Heterochromia Iridum
by Submechanophobia
Summary: Katherine Harvey sucked at remembering names. But when a man, with a knife strapped where his hand should be, tells you his brother's name, you listen. – "I could never understand what people meant before when they said, 'right person, wrong time'." – He snorted, "Probably weren't talkin' 'bout the apocalypse, Kat." Daryl/OC. (Slow Burn)
1. Clean

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Summary: Katherine Harvey sucked at remembering names. But when a man, with a knife strapped where his hand should be, tells you his brother's name, you listen. – "I could never understand what people meant before when they said, 'right person, wrong time'." – He snorted, "Probably weren't talkin' 'bout the apocalypse, Kat." Daryl/OC.**

 **Rating: Eventual M for disturbing content, language, and sexual scenarios. I'll try to put trigger warnings when needed, but keep in mind that if you watch the show, most of this is to be expected.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

 **Katty is modeled after Sarah McDaniel if anyone is curious.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Clean

"Not a chance, Aaron. We've been over this before,"

Katty sighed as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead and continued to deconstruct her temporary setup. She saw the offending male grimace, and she knew she had probably spread the remnants of the last Biter she had encountered across her face some more. Katty knew it didn't look or smell nice, but it helped keep them away from her, so she forced herself to get used to it.

Aaron, typically accompanied by his partner Eric, had been trying to recruit Katty for about nine weeks now. Apparently, they had been following her for a few days before that, but had only come to light when she had been cornered by a few Biters and they decided to intervene. She was grateful, but uninterested when the two men had shown her the photos of the impressive and probably fictional community that was Alexandria.

She hadn't been around a large group of people for months, and her last experience hadn't been a positive one. So, needless to say, Katty had been declining their invitation for just over two months now.

That hadn't deterred Aaron in the slightest, and he often put aside time from scouting for other survivors to visit Katty. At first, she hated it. Human interaction had become awkward and forced in her solitary existence, and conversing with the two men had been difficult at the start. Tension, stretched with uncooperative silences, had filled their encounters for a long time.

Katty wondered if it was the gravitational pull of loneliness that had made her accept the presence of the two of them.

She had been on her own since the middle of spring, and the dull ache in her chest in the shape of her friend Calum was still present. Calum. The reason she had stopped her trek to Washington. It was his idea to go, and Katty would have followed her friend anywhere. She was just happy to be alive after the last group they were with. But they had gotten separated after a hoard passed through when they were scavenging, and the stony expression he had sent her before leaving Katty in her hiding spot was ingrained in her mind forever. She stopped traversing, but not because she was scared she would get there. She was scared she would arrive and he wouldn't be there, and Katty couldn't face the idea that her capable, more deserving friend didn't make it. So she took the cowards way out and stuck to the woods in Virginia.

Katty had consistently moved her campsite between four different locations; environments that had thinner amounts of Biters and good visibility. It was a pattern that Aaron and Eric had quickly caught onto and used to their advantage when locating her.

They brought her supplies when they could lend them; bottles of water, granola bars, and sometimes they forced soap on her when they couldn't stand the stench of the dead on her skin any longer. Katty wasn't the most accomplished survivor but she had survived. She was small and quick and only went into towns when she absolutely needed it.

Her father had been a Naturopathic doctor, as well as heavily into horticulture and living off the land. She couldn't grow anything given the current situation, but she was able to construct the odd snare and sometimes lucked into catching dinner for a few days. She could identify useful plants and which ones to stay away from as well. Which is part of the reason she assumed why Aaron was so interested in her presence in Alexandria.

They weren't low yet on food, but he had disclosed to her before that though other aspects of their lives were self-sufficient, they hadn't successfully grown their own food yet. The town mostly lived off a storage of cans and lentils, and Aaron wasn't clouded by the ignorance that the other residents seemed to be encased by. It had to change or they wouldn't survive the next winter.

She finished packing up her muted and dreary life into one overstuffed backpack, and fixed the straps on her knives in various locations on her body. Katty adjusted the Glock 17 in the front of her now ill-fitting favourite black jeans and glanced around the camp. The last thing she needed was to lose something from being distracted by Aaron.

Aaron cleared his throat and attempted to lighten the tense atmosphere that she had created. "How did you manage to get so filthy? I brought you soap _yesterday_ ,"

Katty rolled her eyes at him, placing her hands on her wide hips. "Sorry that I don't have the novelty of electricity or running water like you do, Aaron." He snorted in response and Katty could tell that he was restraining himself from a snappy reply.

 _You could have these too._

The message was heavy in the air, and Katty bit the inside of her cheek, feeling uncomfortable. She glanced towards the taller male as they walked almost silently through the forest.

"What happened with that other group you lot were following?" Yesterday when Aaron had visited had been the first after just over two weeks of silence. She hadn't been interested yesterday, but Katty wanted to distract him from inviting her once again.

Aaron hesitated, and Katty narrowed her eyes at him. He sighed, "I wasn't going to tell you because I thought that if there was more people, you'd be less likely to come back with me," she didn't tell him explicitly, but that was correct. "They came back with us. Deanna's figuring out jobs for them all now,"

Katty lingered over this fact. It was a bigger group; Aaron had told her weeks ago when he had first discovered them. She wondered if having actual survivors, people from outside the walls, would change the dynamic of the community.

"So, off to plot B, are we?" Aaron mused as they stepped over roots and foliage. She frowned. She really was predictable, wasn't she?

"I should switch it up, to keep you on your toes," she joked to cover her dissatisfaction with the redundancy of her patterned existence.

"Wouldn't matter," Aaron told her with a grin, "New group has a proficient tracker, so just you wait until I bring him out with me. You wouldn't stand a chance against Daryl Dixon,"

A cacophony of snapping branches, folding greenery and grunts were heard as Katty tripped over a root and crashed unceremoniously to the ground.

"Shit, you alright, Katty?" he grabbed her by the handle of her backpack and hoisted her off the ground.

He chattered at her aimlessly as he checked her over for any obviously cuts or injuries. Katty wasn't listening, her mind was a gust of white noise as the four syllable name implanted itself, front and centre in her brain. Fuck. Just her luck. Out of all the places she could have found a Daryl Dixon, it was in Alexandria; the last place she wanted to go.

They walked for a while longer, Katty no longer paying attention to the direction that they were meandering in. She was distracted, no longer light or silent in her footsteps, and Aaron kept glancing at her in concern. This was going to attract Biters if she wasn't careful, she scolded herself.

"I know you said you didn't hit your head, but are you sure you don't want to get Pete to check you out for a concussion or something? You're acting strange,"

She shook her head and brushed him off before squinting at the sky overhead. It was still early in the morning, but she knew Aaron would leave her soon and return to his duties at Alexandria. Katty racked her brain, weighing her options and trying to dissuade herself from the abundance of negative outcomes she knew would happen if she went to Alexandria. She had made herself a promise, and there was no avoiding that.

"If I come to Alexandria," she started and she watched as Aaron's bright face snapped to hers, "I can leave if I change my mind?"

He nodded. "Of course, Katty." His hopeful look was glued to her apprehensive one.

She sniffed and looked to her right, in the direction that she knew Alexandria was in.

"Daryl Dixon, huh?"

The words slipped out, and Katty regretted them. She hadn't meant to say his name out loud, and she could see Aaron in her peripheral with a questioning look on his face.

"Do you know him, Katty?" Aarons voice was serious and calm, and Katty looked over at him.

"Nope," She replied honestly, "just know _of_ him."

He frowned slightly and opened his mouth to question Katty further, but seemed to think better of it and closed his mouth again. "Alright," he said slowly. "So you're coming back with me?"

"I guess. I might not stay, though," she clarified quickly, and the other man nodded with a small smile. She didn't return it.

Katty was already abolishing herself for agreeing to return to Alexandria, and immediately had started to feel contrition at her decision. This wasn't going to end well. There were too many people there, and she had too many secrets she wanted to keep.

Aaron chatted at her, explaining the process, one of which she had heard before when he attempted to convince her previously. It was simple. She would get there, be introduced to and interviewed by the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Deanna Monroe, and then get settled while Deanna thought of a job for her. Everyone contributed, that was the only condition to staying in the settlement.

The Safe-Zone had been designed pre-apocalypse specifically for sustainability. It had been suited with a sewage filtration system, solar grids and cisterns. This meant running water and electricity. These two things sounded so unbelievable and foreign to Katty, and she tried not to feel excited. It sounded too good to be true, so it probably was.

She had been made aware of all of this before, but was content to let Aaron talk at her. It calmed her nerves and gave her less time to think and feel anxious about her impending arrival.

They walked for a few hours, but it felt like minutes until the tin supported by steel tubing that made up Alexandria's wall came into view. Blood rushed loudly in her ears and her adrenaline surged as Aaron called out to whoever was manning the large gate.

It slid open a few feet, enough for them to comfortably walk through, and Aaron grabbed her hand. He squeezed it in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but Katty knew he was stopping her from bolting from her spot next to him.

A man in probably his late twenties with messy brown hair and a denim shirt poked his head around the gate and observed them both before addressing Aaron.

"Hey, Aaron, who's this?"

Aaron smiled down at Katty, but her face was stern and wouldn't cooperate to form a friendly smile back at him.

"Hello, Spencer. This is Katherine Harvey, our newest resident."

Katty shuffled uncomfortably under the new person's gaze. She could feel his eyes travelling across her battered, ripped clothing, her hair and skin caked in blood and old innards. She glanced at him as he eyed the many knives and blades that were on her person, and she quickly looked down. She tried to stop her free hand from shaking, but resorted to shoving it in her pocket instead.

"I'll, uh, let my mom know then. Come on in, Katherine,"

"Katty." She murmured, not looking at him. She found solace in her dirty Timberland boots that were half a step from falling apart.

"Alright, sorry. Katty," he corrected with a nod and then stepped back to let them enter. She tightened her grip on Aaron's hand as he propelled them forward and through the front gate.

* * *

Rick ran a hand through his shortened hair and he walked about the perimeter of Alexandria for the third time that morning. The polyester uniform felt constrictive and unnatural, much like the appearance of the Safe-Zone in the midst of the apocalypse.

It was mid-morning and most of the Alexandrians had woken up to commence their daily duties. His group, still unaccustomed to the life of ignorance and safety that these residents embodied, had all woken up earlier and were milling about.

Carol had slipped easily into the mundane activities that a housewife would exemplify, and currently was watching Judith. Carl and Michonne were eating breakfast and cracking jokes, and Rick had smiled when he saw the expression on his son's face. Carl had adapted well in the short time that they had been in Alexandria, he had been seen with the other teenagers around Alexandria; lately it was Jessie's son, Ron.

He walked about, counting heads and making sure he knew the whereabouts of his group. They were all in various degrees of settled, with Daryl reigning in under the title of least so. After the altercation Glen had with Deanna's younger son which ended with Daryl involving himself and tackling Nicholas to the ground, Daryl had reverted to being uncommunicative and uninvolved. Aaron, the only resident scout as Eric had a broken ankle, had attempted to include Daryl in the community when he could, which Rick greatly appreciated. The other man had definitely taken a turn for the negative after Beth's death, and hadn't spoken much to anyone outside the core people that made up Rick's group.

He was struggling, Rick thought as he observed him smoking on the porch of the house they had moved into and watched him from afar for a few minutes. Daryl seemed listless, and functioned without a purpose in their new environment. Rick was worried, but with everything else going on and the changes he was trying to make, he selfishly hoped his friend would be alright without him for a while.

He sauntered up to Daryl, "You seen Aaron today?" the man that had brought them to Alexandria wasn't around, and Rick was accustomed to seeing him early in the mornings, plotting grid maps and helping out around town.

Daryl shrugged in response. "Said he was goin' out ta see someone, try ta get 'em to come back." He glanced from the cigarette in his hands to Rick as he muttered out the reply.

Rick arched an eyebrow, "Alone? You didn't go with him?" he was aware that Daryl had made somewhat of a friendship with Aaron and his partner, Eric, and was surprised he hadn't accompanied Aaron.

"Ain't none of my business. Offered, said he didn't wanna scare 'em off with someone new," Rick could tell that Daryl was slightly put-out over that. Though everyone else felt more free living in Alexandria, the redneck hadn't felt this caged since before the end of the world, and wanted any opportunity to go outside of the walls.

It was irresponsible of Aaron to go out alone, and Rick made a mental note to discuss that with him when he returned. _If_ he came back. Rick was contemplating what to do with this information when Spencer approached and waved him down. He was still unsure about the elder son of Deanna. Aiden had proven to be reckless and unaware, though Glenn had described him with a different choice of words that made him smile, and Rick was still debating the same about Spencer.

Spencer nodded in a greeting to both of them, "Mornin'." Daryl remained silent but offered a quick nod, which Rick felt was an improvement in itself. The younger male was still Deanna's son, so Rick decided to be polite.

"Mornin', Spencer. What do you need?" Rick asked while hooking his thumbs into his front pockets.

Spencer scratched his forehead at his hairline and glanced over his shoulder, towards where the front gate was, "Not sure. Aaron came back with someone and I was on my way to let Deanna know. Thought I should tell you in case you needed to be there too,"

Both Rick and Daryl perked their attentions in response to the acquired information and glanced at each other. Another new face, a new survivor especially, would probably not bode well in Alexandria. The residents were already leery and explicitly uncomfortable with the presence of Rick's group, so the addition of another would do nothing to dissipate that.

The newly appointed constable looked back to Spencer, "Just the one?" People were seldom found by themselves anymore. There was strength in numbers, and most survivors travelling alone either grouped with others or were picked off by Walkers. At Spencer's affirmative nod, Rick frowned. They were either newly alone or lying, and had a bigger assemblage of people hidden out there.

Either way, Rick needed to get down there and make sure everyone cooperated. Spencer could tell that Rick was uneasy about the newcomer, and added before he left, "She isn't threatening. More scared than anything,"

Naïve like everyone else, Rick decided. Fear can be deceptively threatening, even if it was a female. He would know.

Rick glanced at Daryl, who dropped to his feet from the railing and brushed his pants off. Rick quickly darted inside to alert Michonne.

"Michonne. Aaron brought back someone, we're going down to the gate to check them out," Rick tried to keep the underlying order out of his tone, but knew it came across anyways. Years as a sheriff deputy and then being thrust back into duty brought back unnecessary habits. He knew Michonne would follow without Rick needing to overtly ask. She was dependable and loyal, and he valued her.

"Stay back here," he thrust an arm towards Carl to make it clear he was speaking to him. Carl hesitated, obviously wanting to go down, but nodded anyways. Carol gave Rick a terse glance, and he knew that she understood his wariness.

The three of them quickly made their way down to the front gate and slowed their pace as they approached. He remembered that Aaron had told Daryl he didn't want to scare her with new people, so he remained quiet and sent a hand gesture to the other two to remain back a bit when they reached the gate.

She was average height for a female, definitely shorter than Maggie and Michonne though. She appeared even smaller in comparison to the large backpack she was sporting. She didn't look directly at them, but appeared to visibly stiffen and slid herself closer to Aaron. Their hands were intertwined, Rick noticed curiously as he made his way towards them. How long had Aaron known this woman for her to trust him like that?

"Hello, Rick," Aaron greeted easily, and picked up his free hand to wave at the two figures some feet behind him. Rick didn't turn to see their greetings back. He was studying the woman – was she even a woman or was she younger? Most of her face and hair was caked in Walker blood, but it appeared to be brown underneath. She was filthy enough that it wouldn't surprise him if it was blonde, though. It was collected in a messy, matted bun on the top of her head.

She was dressed in black jeans with rips in the knees, and brown work boots that were in the same state as the rest of her outfit. A slim fitting tank top was most likely a dirty, muted variation of grey underneath the filth and she had a dark green jacket tied around her slim waist. She was chewing on her full lips and staring at the ground, forcing Rick to acknowledge that she had probably been attractive before the end of the world, before the hunger and pain and Walker guts had covered her. Like it had done to them all.

"Mornin', Aaron. Who do we have here?" he attempted to keep his tone friendly and genial, but the girl didn't so much as glance at him. Rick still kept his distance though, looks could be deceiving.

Aaron smiled towards the smaller figure. "This is Katty. She finally decided to see Alexandria for herself,"

Katty finally raised her eyes towards Rick, and he found his own blue ones widen. She had one eye that was a vivid blue, but in the sunlight the other orb was a light color that he had trouble discerning of between green and brown. Messy, full and dark eyebrows offset her large eyes and were accompanied by a small, rounded nose. He immediately revoked his previous thought; she was indeed, still very pretty.

It also surprised and unnerved him that though she seemed shy, her gaze was strong and full of distrust. The previous picture that he had painted in his mind of her would have to be changed.

He made sure to keep his voice low and even, while maintaining an appropriate amount of eye contact with her. "Hello, Katty, nice to meet you. I'm Rick Grimes, the constable here in Alexandria,"

She appeared to be chewing on the insides of her cheeks while her eyes burned into him. "Hello, Rick." She said shortly, and Rick bit back a smile when he noticed an accent. British, if he wasn't mistaken. What was she doing in Virginia?

Rick heard footsteps and Michonne's grumpy voice and turned to see Spencer quickly approaching with Michonne in tow.

"I told you to stay back," she ground out at him. Daryl came a bit closer but still kept his distance, which Rick appreciated.

Spencer spared Michonne a glance but mostly ignored her and addressed Rick and Aaron. "Deanna said she'd be ready to start the interview process whenever you were, Aaron. I'm here to take any weapons Katty has and belongings to check them over."

Her response was immediate and made Rick jump. She snatched her hand from Aarons and took a few quick, short steps back. Her hand instantly went to the large knife at her hip, and she threateningly placed it on top, locking eyes with Spencer. Rick and Michonne both gripped the ends of their guns, still in the holster, and waited for a tense moment to see what Katty was going to do. Rick had half a mind to draw his gun on her to prove a point, but restrained himself.

Her multi-colored eyes didn't hold any malice; just a mix of apprehension and annoyance.

"Fuck that," she gruffly stated. "Not happening,"

Aaron sighed and gestured for Katty to come back over. Frowning when she shook her head at him, he glanced at Rick before addressing Katty once more. "Katty, you'll get some of the knives back after Deanna finishes with you. We just can't have civilians walking around with firearms, and you won't need that many knives anyways. There's kids around," he reminded her.

Her hand drifted away from the machete attached to her hip and she hesitantly glanced backwards to the now shut gate.

"I don't think that this was a good idea, Aaron. I should just –"

"No, no, wait, Katty. I promise, it is, just trust me," Aaron's exasperated tone accompanied his movements as he took a few steps towards Katty.

She mirrored him and took a few more steps backwards, and Rick watched as Aaron's face fell.

"I do trust you, Aaron, I just – I don't think that this place is for me." She nervously licked her lips and darted her eyes around the small crowd of people.

Aaron laughed and attempted to lighten the anxious mood, "What – it's not you, it's me? You're really pulling that line with me, Katty?"

Rick remained silent and watched the exchange. They had known each other for a while, it seemed. Why had it taken so long for her to agree to come to Alexandria?

Katty opened her mouth, probably to decline again if the terse expression on her face was any indication, before she was interrupted.

"Katty! Here less than 10 minutes and already causing trouble? That's a record," Rick looked over to see Eric limping over to them with a crutch, sending a smile to Daryl as he passed him.

Katty visibly brightened at the appearance of Aaron's partner. She put her hands on her hips and sternly asked, "And where the hell have you been exactly?"

Eric laughed lightly as he stopped in front of them and gestured to his healing ankle, "Can't exactly go for a tromp in the woods with you like this, can I?"

She glared down at his ankle as if it personally had offended her. "Bugger all. What did I tell you two about the kinky sex?"

Aaron and Eric instantaneously blanched and stumbled over their words, attempting to explain that that wasn't the case. Rick heard Michonne snort beside him as he smiled lightly at the expense of the two embarrassed men.

She waved their bumbling protests away, "Excuses, excuses, boys."

"Well, I can smell you from here, Katty. You'll have to clean up before you see Deanna, or you might kill her from your stench." He looked to Aaron questionably. "I thought you said you brought her soap yesterday,"

Aaron feigned exasperation and threw his hands in the air. "I did. I don't know how she did this in less than 24-hours,"

Katty sent a grumpy expression Aaron's way, that Rick thought looked more like a petulant child than anything. "Sod off, the both of you,"

Eric quickly glanced Katty up and down before gesturing at Spencer, "Come on then, give him your stuff so that we can get you cleaned up."

Rick felt the air around them thicken again, and the remaining individuals and himself held their breath as they waited for a response from the young girl.

"Hurry up. You can't shoot worth shit anyways, Katty. The Glock won't do you any good in here," Eric poked at her.

Her jaw tensed and she gulped, but unlatched the clip of the backpack at her front and dropped it inelegantly onto the ground. Spencer then strode forward and held out a bin to her for her to put her weapons in.

She grabbed the Glock out of the front of her waistband and placed it in the bin before bending to remove the rest from her body. Rick was somewhat impressed by the amount of blades on the girl; unlatching the machete at her hip, a shorter one strapped to her thigh, the pouch full of smaller knives at her other side. She even bent down to retrieve a few that were strapped to her ankle under the hem of her jeans. Katty placed the contents of her person into the bin carefully and then gestured with her thumb towards her bag.

"There's a few more in my bag. Don't blunt them, those are special," she chastised Spencer before turning to leave with Eric.

Rick stopped her; he had a job to do as well. "Can I check you before you go off?"

Her eyes clearly showed she didn't want his strange hands on her body and he could tell she wanted to scream 'no' at him. But she didn't. She shrugged, which Rick decided to accept as consent, and untied her jacked from her waist, tossing it back and onto her backpack.

Rick made sure any movement of his hands was precise and necessary, and he was very aware how small she seemed in front of him. His stature surely was intimidating enough for her without any added coercion. He could feel her big eyes on his face as he declined to look at hers. Starting at her shoulders, he quickly made his path down her arms and sides, noting her narrow waist and wondering bleakly if it was from hunger. She flinched when his hands patted at her hips, and he muttered a low apology and moved on. He moved down one thin leg and then the other before crouching down to address her shoes. Rick gently lifted at her ankle until Katty got the hint and lifted her right foot, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder to help balance herself. Rick lightly placed a hand behind her knee as he pulled off the work boot to check inside it and under it. Her shoes were falling apart, he noted dully. Whoever went on a supply run would have to get her some new ones. Probably new clothes, too, he noted when he smelled the stench of death that clung to her. He repeated the same motion with her left foot before replacing the shoe on her foot and standing up slowly.

She wasn't looking at him anymore; she was staring over his shoulder at something. Glancing back, he figured out her sight was fixed on Daryl, who had seemingly had enough of being in the background and was approaching the group.

"All done," he nodded at her and her gaze jumped back to Rick. She quickly looked him up and down before wordlessly moving past him and Aaron to Eric.

Before they left, Eric looked at Michonne. "If you see Rosita, can you ask her if she has any spare clothes? I think they're pretty close in size,"

Michonne nodded and Eric smiled gratefully at her before beckoning Katty to follow him.

Rick watched as her small frame retreated away, accompanied by the other man that she had apparently met before.

"She had a lotta stuff on her," Daryl commented dryly, looking towards the bin full of weapons and the heavy backpack that Spencer was currently attempting to pick up.

"I'm surprised she was able to carry this, little girl like that," Spencer grunted as he shifted the weight of the pack onto his shoulder. Michonne frowned at him.

"Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she's weak." She snapped. Rick couldn't agree more. Her carrying all those knives had to say something about her. If she didn't know how to use them they were unnecessary weight; something that couldn't be afforded in the new world.

Spencer just waved a hand in surrender her way and grabbed the bin off the ground. He nodded at them and walked off, presumably towards the armory and the Monroe house to sort through everything.

Rick heard Aaron laugh breathlessly beside him, and looked over. Aaron was watching the small form of his partner and Katty in the distance.

"She always did like him better." He joked.

Rick had a million questions about this new survivor; he wanted to get Aaron's opinion before meeting with her and Deanna later that day. He contemplated where to start.

"How long have you been scouting her for? You seem familiar," Rick commented.

"Myself and Eric followed her only for a few days. But technically we've been scouting her for over nine weeks now, I suppose," Aaron supplied easily, speaking to the three of them.

Rick frowned, "Why did it take her so long to agree to come back?"

Aaron sighed and ran a hand through his brown hair. "She's had a rough time with a few different groups, and it made her gun shy I suppose. She was with one friend some months ago but they got separated, and I think that's part of it too. Doesn't want to completely give up on him and move on, but can't make herself keep searching for him either,"

"Long time for one girl to be on her own, though." Michonne mused.

"She's more capable than she looks or thinks she is. Her dad was a Naturopathic Doctor, so she knows a great deal about herbal remedies and foliage in the area as well. He was big into self-sustainability and living off the land, too, so Eric and myself figure she would be a huge help in us learning to grow our own food. She knows a bit about hunting, too," Aaron looked at Daryl when he said this, and the redneck grunted in acknowledgement.

Rick scratched the back of his neck, unsure, "Well, what changed then and made her come back?"

Aaron hesitated, and Rick didn't miss how he glanced at Daryl, unsure. Daryl stiffened, probably expecting the worst.

"I'm not sure. She slowly changed her mind this morning after I mentioned Daryl,"

The three of them turned their eyes to Daryl, and he shifted his stance, uncomfortable that the attention was now directed on him. He frowned and sent a quizzical look to Aaron.

"Did she look familiar to you?" Michonne asked, eyes raking over his face.

"Nah," he denied quickly, "Never seen'er before."

"Maybe it was a different Daryl?" Rick supplied.

Aaron shook his head. "I said Daryl's full name, and she repeated it back to me a while later right before she agreed. Said she didn't actually know him, just knew _of_ him," Aaron paused thoughtfully. "But she didn't seem to recognize him at all a few minutes ago."

Rick glanced in the direction that Eric and Katty had gone in, "We'll find out later, then. You sure she isn't dangerous and there isn't any group that she's apart of?"

Aaron shook his head, "I've never seen any signs of anyone. She's got surviving down to a science; doesn't stick too long in one place and sleeps in trees if she has to. She's valuable to Alexandria, Rick."

Rick didn't trust many people in Alexandria. Outwardly he was respectful and polite to Deanna, inwardly he was buying his time while he decided what to do. But he liked Aaron and his partner, and trusted that they were thorough in investigating Katty. He spared a nod at Aaron.

The other male sensed that the conversation was over and attempted an encouraging smile. "I'll let you know when we go up to see Deanna,"

Rick nodded and Michonne snickered to his right.

"So what's this about kinky sex, Aaron?" she asked innocently. Daryl let out a snort and Aaron rolled his eyes, trying to fend off the blush creeping up his neck.

"She's a little shit sometimes,"

"Well, I think she's funny," Michonne countered, and then left to find Rosita.

* * *

Katty showered for what felt like hours in scalding hot water because it had been ages since she had felt the nirvana that was heated water. Probably for too long, because when she got out and looked in the mirror, she had mysteriously metamorphosed into a lobster.

She ran her fingers through her wet hair before scrunching her towel into it and dried it best she could. Katty had washed it three times before the water had run clear, clear from the caked on Biter guts and blood. Her scalp was no longer itchy and she noticed that her hair was longer than she remembered. It now almost reached the middle of her back, and she twiddled with the uneven ends interestedly. Last time she had properly seen it, it was at her shoulder blades.

Looking through a mirror was a disturbing and foreign experience. She hadn't seen her own reflection in such a long time, it was almost like looking at a stranger. It practically _was_ looking at a stranger, with how different she looked.

Standing in front of the mirror naked, Katty scrunched her nose as what she saw. She wasn't remotely even close to chubby before the end of the world; she had been a model, so she couldn't be. But she had lost at least one stone, probably more. She had liked her body before the apocalypse, now she thought she looked sharper and a great deal less feminine. Her boobs had definitely shrunk too, she thought with a frown as she grabbed them with her hands, trying to remember what they were like before. She turned around to check out her arse and was utterly disappointed. She had wide hips, which partially saved the noticeable deflate that had occurred. Hopefully she'd be able to gain that weight back.

Her face was sharper as well, but it wasn't entirely dissatisfactory. She had a few more lines from stress than she wanted to admit to and inwardly groaned. How old was she? 24? 25? She wasn't supposed to have lines. Better wrinkly than dead, she mused to herself. Her eyes were still alien and large, which her weight loss had only accentuated. Her once round, young looking face now took on a harsher appearance, and she detested the visible arch of her cheekbones that she had, ironically, always wanted previously.

Katty roamed her eyes over her body in the mirror, glancing at the various scars and bruises that littered her body. She remembered Rick grazing the large one that was on her right hip and lightly ran her handover it. It hurt, even after a year or two after it had healed. This was one she was determined to keep hidden, and she frowned as she brushed her fingers against the almost circular scar.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door, and Katty wrapped the fluffy towel around herself securely before opening it a bit. It was a pretty girl of Spanish decent, roughly around her age.

She smiled kindly at Katty, who returned it with a small one of her own. "Hey, Eric wanted me to drop off some clothes for you? I'm Rosita,"

Katty opened the door fully to let her in. "Katty," she replied. "Thanks."

"They should fit, let me know if they don't and I can try to find you something else," she eyed her, "We're basically the same size, you're probably a bit smaller,"

Katty groaned. "Tell me about it, I just looked at my new pancake ass."

Rosita laughed, "At least it gives you an excuse to eat more." She placed the clean clothes on the counter and grabbed Katty's pile of dirty laundry. "I'll have these washed for you." She frowned at them, "Maybe we should just burn them. They're pretty bad,"

"You can burn it all, just not my lucky pants," Katty protested. "They're my favourite."

"Gotcha, need anything else just let us know."

Katty nodded, knowing she probably wouldn't be asking for anything. The last thing she wanted to be was a burden, if she decided to stay long enough to become one.

After she left, Katty slipped on Rosita's clothes. They fit surprisingly well, even the bra she had supplied. The shorts were almost a bit tight, so maybe her pancake ass wasn't as flat as she figured. The sleeveless, denim, button-up shirt was a bit loose, and Katty appreciated the thick socks she had brought her as well. Putting them on and then cramming her feet back in her Timberlands, she frowned at how worn they were. They were good boots, and lasted her a long time. Hopefully she could find the same pair again.

She felt naked without her machete at her hip, so part of her wanted to get the interview with Deanna over with so she could have it back again. Most of her was terrified though, and wanted to avoid in entirely.

"I'm done, Eric."

"Katty? Is that you? You look like a real human now and not a Roamer," Eric commented with a grin.

Katty snorted in response. "You cheeky bitch."

"Alright, let's go, Poppet," Eric mocked in a British accent as he grabbed the crutch and hobbled to the door.

"Is this the part when I say parlay and you take me to the Captain?" Katty asked, remembering a popular movie she had watched a few years ago.

Eric smiled at her kindly. "It'll be alright, Katty. Aaron will be in the room with you,"

She nodded curtly as they walked towards where Aaron said he'd meet them, near the small piece of water that Alexandria had. Like a glorified pond.

He wasn't there, but in the vicinity was Rick Grimes from earlier, the woman with dreadlocks that was dressed similarly to him and another man. She had been eying him earlier; Katty had found him attractive in a rugged, back woods kind of way. He was the kind of man that she would have been attracted to back in California before everything happened. Older and rough, she noted that he looked like he barely showered and was overdue for a haircut. Katty bit back a grin. Just her type. Maybe the Alexandria Safe-Zone wouldn't be entirely awful.

Eric snapped his fingers in front of her face as they approached, "Earth to Katty,"

She scowled at him and swatted his hand away from her face. He smiled innocently back.

"Be a dear and go around to fetch Aaron; he's over there talking to Aiden. I'm crippled, so you have to say yes," he reminded her when she opened her mouth to protest. She rolled her eyes and stalked away to go retrieve Eric's partner.

She didn't miss the stares that she got from the group of three, or the particularly steely glare she got from the attractive one. She tried to ignore it as she approached Aaron and the other, younger male. They were speaking but Katty wasn't patient enough or interested enough to wait for a break in the conversation.

"Aaron, we're waiting for you. Let's go."

Aaron turned and smiled at her, "You clean up nicely. Could have mistaken you for a Roamer before," he joked.

"Ha ha, funny. Eric already beat you to that joke, though," she replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, hello, gorgeous. And who might you be?" the other male asked arrogantly, running a hand through his dark hair to muss it up.

Katty wasn't in the mood to deal with haughty macho men, so she sent a blank stare his way before regarding Aaron again, "I'll be waiting over there."

She thought she heard Aiden mutter, "Damn," under his breath, but she just rolled her eyes and quickly strode away. Ugh.

They small group was still staring as she approached, and she slowed her pace, suddenly intimidated and unsure. The woman with the dreadlocks braved a bright smile at her.

"I see Rosita brought you clothes. Glad they fit,"

Katty chewed her lip. "Yeah. Your name's Michonne, right? Thank you." She nodded in reply.

Rick cleared his throat and Katty inclined her head towards him. He had been professional earlier when he patted her down but she was still uncertain and slightly suspicious of him. She couldn't afford not to be. He had an air about him that was uneasy, almost like he was about to cross the threshold into becoming wild and unhinged, and it made Katty nervous.

"You look – uh, cleaner," he stated awkwardly and Katty stared at him. Rick still looked suspicious of her, which was understandable, so Katty tried to think of something to say to dispel the qualm.

"That's typically the point of showers, or so I've heard," she snipped back, and Rick smiled slightly. She heard Michonne snicker slightly, and she turned to look at the man that she didn't know.

"I'm Katty. We haven't had an introduction yet," she stated plainly, and he met her eyes briefly before looking at the ground again.

"Daryl," came his gruff reply, and she felt Rick and Michonne staring at her. Her eyebrows shot up. So this was Daryl. They definitely didn't look alike, but Katty took note of the same Southern twang to his voice, the one that was so dissimilar to Katty's accent.

"So you're Daryl then," she said, interested in the attractive, older man even more now. His eyes shot up to her face and his hard stare mirrored her own. She decided to play with him a bit.

"He was wrong after all," she said, more to herself than Daryl, but she knew that they would all pick up on the comment.

"The hell are yah on about?" he rasped at her, narrowing his blue eyes.

She smiled and licked her lips, enjoying the way his eyes darted down to them before he looked back up. This might be a bit of a risky comment, but what the hell. Hopefully he wouldn't shoot her.

"Merle said I wouldn't be attracted to you. Guess he was wrong."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, you! I have decided to make a WD story. I haven't stopped my story, but I wanted to leave it for a bit to see how people reacted to it. If you haven't read that one, check it out.

Please review if you want me to continue, I'm unsure about this fic.

Thanks for reading,

\- Submechanophobia


	2. Stars

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! Here's the second installment, I'm sorry if the story is starting off a bit slow for you, it hopefully will pick up in a few chapters.**

 **And a big thank you to the kind people that told me to continue!** **jeanf** **,** **Jianali** **,** **YaoiLovinKitsune** **,** **TheHungryRainbow** **, & ****strawberryfruitsnaxs** **. I really appreciate the words of encouragement.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Stars

Katty had never met a man that had made her see stars like Daryl Dixon did. That had winded her, dazed her in a way that made her question if she was even conscious anymore. She felt like she was floating, held up by the wings of something much greater than her. His face had been inches from hers, and Katty blearily wondered why his mouth was moving but the only noise she could hear was wind and a high pitched ringing and why the only thing she could feel was a dull throb in the back of her head.

As the ringing dulled, Katty realized that her joke hadn't landed as hard as she had planned.

At least, no where near as hard as she had landed up against the concrete wall of the nearest building when Daryl had shoved her into it. She remembered her head bouncing off the wall and the air leaving her lungs as Daryl had rammed himself into her small frame to keep her pinned there while he yelled incoherent words at her.

It barely registered to her what he was yelling at her, she was more concerned with the black spots dancing in her vision and refilling her lungs with oxygen. Which was proving difficult to do with the much larger body of Daryl depriving her of air.

Normally, Katty wouldn't have complained if an attractive man had made her lose her breath, but as she fought to stay conscious, she felt she could have passed on that opportunity today.

She watched, stunned, as hands reached around Daryl and pulled him off of her. He resembled an unchained, unhinged dog and she was morbidly fascinated that she managed to elicit that reaction out of him. She stumbled as her feet finally touched the ground, and Katty was surprised to realize that she had been lifted off of it in the first place.

"- an' who the _fuck_ do yah think yah are," His loud words were finally being formally processed through her brain, and Katty watched as Rick and Aaron dragged him a distance away from her. She noticed at the inopportune moment that anger made his accent thicker. "Stupid bitch." He spat at her as he fumed.

"Daryl," Ricks voice cut through the angry redneck's insults and Katty's thoughts, "Go cool off. Aaron, get him out of here," he ordered angrily.

Daryl didn't wait for the other male, he just angrily shrugged his grip off of his shoulder and stalked off. Aaron cast once last incredulous look towards Katty before he jogged off after him.

Eric rolled his eyes at Katty as she blinked stupidly in the direction Daryl and Aaron had gone. "Making friends wherever you go, how do you do it?"

Rick sent Eric a pointed look, to which the man put his hands in the air innocently, "I'll go see if Aaron needs help with Daryl."

Not sparing Katty the slightest last glance, though she doubted she would have seen it anyways if she had been paying attention, Eric hobbled after his significant other and their angry friend.

Katty couldn't believe that had happened. She had severely underestimated the reaction that the other man would have had, and had stupidly assumed that he would have been surprised, confused, or oddly flattered.

She really was crappy at reading people.

"What the hell is your problem?" Rick bit at her, and she flinched, directing her attention towards him. "I don't know who you claim to be, but if you cause an issue with one of mine or my _family_ again, you will be kicked out."

Rick took a step towards her, and if Katty had anywhere to go she would have taken one back. She didn't though, considering she was already leaning against the wall for support, so the other male succeeded in towering over her and seething.

"Let me be clear, Katty. If you harm one of mine, I won't hesitate to kill you," his eyes were intense and angry and Katty believed every word he stabbed at her.

Eric had briefly filled her in on Rick's group when she was at their house showering, and she felt her stomach twist into a knot.

Regarding him, Katty couldn't make herself bristle or become defensive. She had fucked up. She hadn't had much human interaction in months, with the only regulars in her world being Aaron and Eric for months. They were different from Rick and his group. They were a different breed of survivors, ones that hadn't learned the real trials and tribulations of the world like Rick's group undoubtedly had. Fear, starvation, true horror and loss.

"Understood?" He ground out, a threatening tone lacing his features.

Katty glanced at Michonne, who also wore a stern expression. Katty understood that someone unfamiliar to them, someone that apparently knew details about one of them, was immediately perceived as a threat. She would have to figure out a way to clear up the misunderstanding without causing more questions to arise. Katty wasn't eager to disclose a great deal of information to these people, either.

"Understood," she was annoyed with how meek and small her voice sounded.

Rick regarded her, his jaw clenched. "Before we take you to Deanna, I have some questions of my own. Starting with how you know Daryl."

She shuffled her feet nervously. She knew that this would come up in conversation eventually, but Katty wasn't enthusiastic that it was so soon, without the company of the only two people she knew here, and while she was being stared down by two less than welcoming residents.

Katty decided being direct and blunt while leaving out certain details would be the most beneficial in this situation. "I don't know Daryl, never met him, didn't even know what he looked like or that he was here until Aaron mentioned it. I know Merle," she paused to look at them both briefly before she ran a hand through her hair and continued. They obviously weren't entirely satisfied with her explanation. "Merle – he found me and my friend," she couldn't make herself say his name, "brought us back to this community. Merle, I guess, mentored me – kind of – while we were there. Wasn't there a long time, just from late fall to when the spring hit, and we decided it wasn't for us and we left. Merle helped get us out."

Katty had tried not to stumble and hesitate over her words, but she failed. She hadn't told this story many times, and a lot of it she had been attempting to block from her conscious mind for a long time. At night was a different story; her dreams were often filled with the terrors that the memories of that time in her life supplied. She felt the pace of her heart jump as it crossed her mind, and she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. Katty refused to let herself have a panic attack in front of these people.

"Woodbury," Michonne supplied plainly, detest clear in her voice.

Katty knew they have both seen her visibly flinch when Michonne had spoken the name of the town that Katty was describing, and she was grateful that neither of them commented on it. She didn't want to know why they knew about Woodbury; Katty had put that place behind her and she didn't want to add to her own personal collection of skeletons and scars.

Neither Rick or Michonne offered any elaboration on their involvement with Woodbury, and she didn't ask.

"Why would Merle help you leave?" Rick asked.

"We were friends – sort of," Katty said, and scowled at Michonne when she snorted in derision. "We were."

"The man that ran the town –"

"The Governor."

Katty recoiled at his name, and looking at Michonne and Rick, though they still were suspicious and distrusting of her, she could tell they understood. They were familiar with him, and Katty wondered who of theirs The Governor had hurt.

"The Governor decided to single me out, and Woodbury became something that I hated, that I wanted to leave behind. Merle wanted to continue to look for Daryl, so he stayed, but he made sure we both got out. Don't get me wrong, Merle is a piece of shit. We had our fair share of arguments. But he saved my life, so I promised myself that if I had the chance to meet him again or his brother, I would. I owe it to him."

Katty looked at them both evenly, and she was glad that her voice had ended on a strong note. She didn't exactly lie to them, she just glossed over some details. The key to a successful lie was to stick as close to the truth as possible, and be vague enough that they created their own details in the spaces between information.

"You're alone?" his voice was softer after her explanation and sounded less hostile.

Katty glanced at the ground, her thoughts continuing their morose path and roaming towards her missing best friend. It must have looked like hesitation to Rick, because his voice regained the sharp, demanding tone.

"Are you alone?"

Katty nodded slowly, her eyes meeting Ricks. "Me and my friend – uh, Caulm," she felt her throat constrict at the mention of his name. "we got separated mid to late spring, I guess. A herd got the better of us and he ran off. I don't know –" she broke off and stared at the ground, not wanting to continue. Not wanting to think of what could have happened to him.

Rick peered over to Michonne, who nodded, before continuing.

"How many Walkers you killed?" she sent him a furrowed brow at the foreign term. "Dead ones."

"Too many to remember." She shook her head.

Rick nodded, "How many people?"

Her eyes widened and she stared at him, "How many people?"

"How many people have you killed?" he repeated.

Katty picked her thumb nail between her fingers and swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling thick and dry.

"Three," she murmured. Rick opened his mouth, but Katty interrupted him. It didn't take a genius to guess what his next question would be.

"One asked me too," her tone was defensive. "He was dying."

"And the other two?"

"Self defense," Katty levelled Rick with a stern look.

"I think I'll decide that for myself," he raised his eyebrows, prompting her to continue with an expectant look.

She swallowed again and glanced at the dirty ground before looking back at them both. "Like I said, The Governor singled me out, and he wouldn't have let me go willingly. Two of his men, they tried – they tried to," she broke off as she searched for her words. "It was the night that I got out. It was necessary, and they deserved it." Her voice was as bitter as her tone was final, and left no room for argument.

Rick and Michonne watched her for what felt like the longest few minutes of her life. She looked anywhere but them, and still could feel the continuous, burning stare.

"Deanna is still waiting," she heard Michonne remind Rick.

Rick nodded, his blue eyes still locked on her face. "Deanna will decide if she thinks you're right for Alexandria. If you cooperate, and stick with _our_ people, it should work out,"

Katty anchored her eyes to his. There was an underlying message there, but she couldn't quite figure out what it meant. Rick hadn't been here that long, did he really already think of the residents of Alexandria as his people? Or was he referring only to his personal subset of family.

She gave him a short nod, and mustered up a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

"Alright."

Katty suddenly felt awkward, and guilty for upsetting Daryl. "I didn't mean to piss him off like that. It was more of a bad joke," she mumbled.

"Daryl's brother, Merle, is a sore subject." Was all Rick elaborated on the subject. "That was a _really_ bad joke," he chastised.

She frowned at Rick. "Well, I haven't exactly had many people to practice my stand-up routine on."

Rick sent her a skeptical look, but she heard Michonne snort out a laugh. Katty smiled at the other woman.

"You picked the absolute worst person to try new material on," Michonne grinned at her.

Katty sent a sheepish look at them both. "Yeah. Kinda get that now, thanks."

The walk to Deanna felt like a death sentence with the two of them walking on either side of her. Rick remained silent and calculating most of the walk, not offering any comfort or encouraging words.

Katty had initially found Michonne intimidating and callous seeming, but the other woman had been making an effort during the short walk to keep the tension light, and would throw in odd comments or humorous, blunt explanations of Alexandria or people they passed.

She had forgotten that Alexandria had other inhabitants, and shied away when she had initially noticed random people milling about, or watching them from their verandas. They were watching the three of them curiously, and Katty noticed the leery glances that Rick and Michonne would get as well. It seemed that she wasn't the only black sheep in this town.

"They don't like you two much, huh?" she commented offhandedly.

"We've only been here about a week," Rick supplied, seemingly unconcerned.

Katty snorted loudly and unattractively. The other two sent her an odd, questioning look.

"Oh come on, really? Not even a week and Deanna has put two strangers in positions of authority?"

"She thinks that the more we're involved in the community and present, the faster that everyone will accept us."

Katty shrugged. "Fair enough. Makes no difference to me. Can't imagine everyone else is chuffed to bits, though."

She glanced around at their confused expressions and sighed. "They're not thrilled." She reworded.

"No, not really." Rick admitted. Katty didn't think he sounded like he cared.

Michonne rapped on the door quickly as they approached, and after a short moment an older man opened the door. He looked Katty up and down before extending a hand towards her.

"Hello there," he greeted kindly. "I'm Reg."

"Katty," she mumbled, shying a glance up at him. He had short, grey hair and wore tortoise shell glasses. She figured that this must be Deanna's husband.

He stepped aside and gestured them in. "Come on in, sit down. Deanna is just finishing up with Maggie and she'll be right out." Reg led them around through the hallway and into the living room.

The houses in Alexandria had surprised her so far. They were expensive and lavish and well furnished, and stood at such a juxtaposition to the rest of the world that it unsettled Katty. This house was no different. The hardwood was constructed to look somewhat distressed, but shone without a scuff. The wallpaper in the hallway matched the drapes in their living room, and complimented the neutral selection of leather and fabric furniture. Two degrees from Boston University hung on the wall, and Katty noticed that it didn't bear the name of either of the two current owners of the house. She glanced around at the books and movies that littered the shelves in the room and wondered if any of these trinkets were theirs. The rolled up maps in a metal basket, the vintage nautical instruments, the weird collection of antique boxes. Was any of this them or was this a sham they up kept to maintain a reference to the normalcy that they lost when the world ended.

She eyed the dark stain on the far wall in the dining room. It was likely from mould or water damage, and found it somewhat satisfying that even Alexandria wasn't immune to decay.

Aaron and Eric's home had been more simple, and contained elements of them that Katty had to resist in pouring over. Almost every wall had bore some unique licence plate or random sign that one of them had obtained while out scouting. The cocktail of colors of letters and numbers hadn't matched perfectly, but seemed to go together well enough. There were photos of Eric and Aaron together, and their garage was full of mechanical tools and small parts, organized into chaos. It was still lavish and completely different to what Katty was use to, but it felt lived in and welcome in comparison to the Monroe residence.

Rick and Michonne walked into the dining room and sat at two of the expensive looking chairs that were around the round, wooden table. Katty stood in the middle of the living room awkwardly, feeling extremely out of place. Walking into a house after sleeping in trees and half made tents for so long was jarring and unnatural feeling.

Behind Rick and Michonne was a grand kitchen, with a white island that supplied four more attractive wire and wood stools. Every inch of this house had been well furnished and decorated, and even though Katty had just showered, she thought she would tarnish it.

"Please, sit," Reg offered, nodding to the chair behind Katty that was decorated in a pattern she couldn't quite name.

She awkwardly perched on the end of the cushion and wrung her hands together. Reg attempted to smile at her in a comforting way, but Katty could only feel her nerves jump. She forced herself to take a deep breath as two sets of footsteps approached, and a dirty blonde head followed by one with brown hair appeared in the dining room. Katty wondered what her pulse was at that moment. This was worse than facing Biters.

Deanna was short, and probably in her mid to late 50s. She looked like she still styled her hair, and Katty wondered if these people still owned blow dryers. Deanna walked towards her with a well practiced smile and calm, watchful blue eyes. What had she done before Alexandria, Katty wondered.

The young woman behind Deanna had brown hair that skimmed her shoulders and appeared to be about Katty's age, possibly a bit older. It was hard to tell with people now, the apocalypse aged everyone. Katty tried to remember what Reg had called the other girl earlier, but couldn't.

"Hello, Katherine, is it? I'm Deanna Monroe, and this is Maggie Greene."

Katty realized that she had been staring, and quickly stood up. That was supposed to be polite, wasn't it? She shook both their hands quickly.

"Just Katty is fine." Had Aaron told everyone her name was Katherine? Katty hated introducing herself, and hoped she wouldn't have to for many more people.

"How are you liking Alexandria, Katty?" Deanna asked with an encouraging smile.

Katty shuffled awkwardly and wondered if she should sit down again. All the eyes in the room were on her, and when she felt uncomfortable, she made bad jokes.

"I much prefer an Ionic design to the simplicity of the Tuscan column, but as long as the interior isn't paired with a Corinthian order, it's alright. They're too embellished to be viewed interiorly, I think." She gestured to the columns on either side of the entry way between the living room and dining room.

The blank stares that were returned at her were enough to make Katty wish the floor would open up and swallow her whole. What was wrong with her? Shit.

"You know about architecture?" Reg asked, interested. "I was a professor, before."

"Erm, nothing past shitty jokes about concrete. Sorry." Katty cleared her throat and reached a hand up to scratch the back of her neck. Behind them and the dining room, Katty saw Michonne put her forehead in her hand and start to laugh silently, her shoulders shaking slightly. Maggie looked like she was fighting not to laugh, and Rick stared at her as if she had grown another head.

She wondered if she had offended Reg, and grimaced.

Reg, however, looked more amused than anything. "I see." He turned and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I'll be in the study when you're done, dear." He then bid them goodbye with a wave of his hand and walked downstairs.

Maggie made her way over to the door, but Deanna stopped her. "Maggie, would you be alright with staying and helping Katty get settled after, and showing her around? I'm sure Rick and Michonne would like to get back to work."

Deanna looked towards Katty when she addressed her. "You won't mind if Maggie joins us for our discussion? I don't know what Aaron told you, but it's informal, not an interview really at all. Just questions."

Katty wanted to point out that interviews were composed of questions, but she suddenly acquired some IQ points and kept her mouth shut. "No, not at all." She replied hastily. Not like she had the choice to disagree anyways.

Maggie nodded, "Alright." She then offered Katty a small smile as she took a seat on one end of the black leather couch. Katty sat back down as well.

Deanna saw Rick and Michonne out, and Michonne quickly flashed Katty an encouraging thumbs up as she left. They spoke quietly at the door for a minute or two before Deanna returned.

"Do you mind if we record this? We like to be transparent here in Alexandria."

Katty noticed for the first time a tripod set up in front of the leather couch opposite her, and she looked at it apprehensively. How did these people have the novelty of video cameras, when she barely had clean water outside the town?

"Yeah, that's fine." It wasn't.

Deanna placed herself on the other end of the couch and pressed a button on the camera that made a red light appear.

"So, what did you do before all of this, Katty. Obviously not architecture," Deanna gestured all around her, and Katty wondered if 'all of this' to Deanna meant something different that it did to Katty. Had she even been outside these walls before?

"I was nobody. It doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" she shook her head slightly at the question. She doubted that waitressing and modeling and repeatedly dropping out of college were relevant anymore.

"That's the thing, Katty, it does matter." Deanna leaned forward in her seat, clasping her hands together, looking attentive and immersed in their short conversation.

"Reg used his skills from before to build those walls you see out there. They keep us safe. I was a member of congress in Ohio, and that skill set has allowed this community to prosper."

Katty thought prosper was a loose term. From what Aaron said, the already constructed community was self sufficient long before they arrived.

"Maggie worked on her father's farm before, and her knowledge of agriculture is going to be very treasured to us." Deanna smiled in the direction of the aforementioned younger female, but Maggie's eyes were fixed on Katty's.

"You look familiar, Katty." Maggie stated, squinting her eyes and tilting her head at her.

Katty didn't think she had met Maggie before, but it wasn't like she had a good memory anyways.

She shrugged, "I was a waitress and a few other things, always between jobs and in debt. I went to college and dropped out more times than I want to admit, so the only blessing the apocalypse has so far is that I don't have to worry about student loan debt now. I wasn't really good at anything worth anything."

"Aaron tells me that your dad taught you a lot about agriculture, but on a smaller scale than Maggie knows. I think that it would be very beneficial to get a different perspective."

"I know about what a farm can do, with the proper equipment and systems in place. It's hard for me to get use to doing it with what we have here," Maggie admitted, crossing a leg over the other and sending a disarming smile her way. She was pretty, Katty thought honestly.

"I don't know everything he does," Katty immediately countered, and then paused. She should probably be trying to sell herself, not convince them she wasn't useful. "But he did teach me a lot. After we moved from England when I was a kid, we lived in a bunch of different states, so I have an idea what can grow well under the weather conditions that Virginia has. If I can get to a supply shop, we could start."

Deanna politely waved her away. "Let's not be too hasty, you just got here after all. We won't send you out right away, you should get settled first."

Katty could feel her face fall, but it was understandable. They didn't trust her. She didn't trust them either.

"Your family was largely into herbalism as well, is that right? We don't have anyone that knows about that here," Maggie added. "We do have one doctor, and thankfully we haven't gone through a lot of supplies, but working with what's around us would be better in the long run."

Katty nodded at her. She agreed with that. It had been useful when her and Calum were travelling, if they got cuts, scrapes, or blisters. Minor injuries, she could deal with. Katty wasn't sure how much she could help on the larger scale though. They didn't need to discuss that now, though.

"How long have you people been here?"

Deanna smiled. "Since the beginning of it all. Maggie joined us from Ricks group about a week ago, and other people trickled in at he beginning, but myself, my husband and our two sons were the original Alexandrians."

"You haven't been outside these walls?" Katty asked, incredulous of Deanna.

"We all have jobs, and mine involves staying inside these walls and being aware of everything that goes on. We have scouts, like Aaron and Eric use to be before he got hurt. There's a collection of people that do supply runs, so we do have people that go outside the walls, Katty. We aren't completely naïve."

Katty disagreed, but she wouldn't start that conversation. How had a community that had been here almost two years not have figured out how to grow their own food yet. Katty doubted that anyone outside of Rick's group knew how to proficiently defend themselves, and she thought that Alexandria was lucky that a group like The Governors hadn't come through and slaughtered them all.

They talked for a while longer, about how Alexandria was run, who to talk to if she had any concerns, before Deanna decided to wrap up the conversation.

"I'm willing to take a chance on you, Katty. I don't know how you feel, but I think that this could be a mutually beneficial situation. How do you feel?"

"I don't know, to be honest. It's been a long time since I've been around people and everything feels wrong." Katty wrapped her arms around herself before continuing. "I'm going to fuck it up." Her words were crass, but she didn't know how else to explain it.

Deanna flicked the video camera off and stood up, which Katty followed in. She walked her over to the window behind Katty and pointed out it.

"This is the start of civilization, Katty. A chance to rebuild, and you can be apart of it."

Looking through the window, Katty didn't just see the residents of Alexandria. She saw people that would inevitably die, in one way or another, gruesome and quick or slow from famine and sadness, and she averted her gaze.

She tried not to see the similarities between Alexandria and Woodbury, she tried not to wonder if Deanna was a carbon copy of The Governor, she tried to find a reason to believe that this could be a new beginning for her and not the end.

"I'm willing to try." She said, mirroring her thoughts and turning to Deanna.

Deanna smiled and looked her in the eyes, and Katty wondered if she knew what she was thinking.

"A few of our members are out on a supply run right now, Heath and his group. So while we figure out a place for you to stay, I'm sure they won't mind you staying in that house. It's smaller, but just as nice as this one, I promise." Deanna thought Katty would care. She frowned when she heard she wouldn't be staying with Aaron and Eric, like she had assumed. Katty knew that it was selfish, they weren't her best friends, technically they barely knew her, and they obviously wanted to have moments alone when they could catch the time.

"That's fine," she said instead of what she actually thought. She didn't sleep much at night anyways, so it probably wouldn't make a difference.

"Okay, well I think that's enough for today, don't you?" Deanna didn't wait for a reply before she continued. "Maggie will get you set up and tour you around, and I'm sure I'll talk to you tomorrow, Katty."

Katty couldn't get out of that house fast enough, and resorted to waiting for Maggie on the front porch after a brief goodbye to Deanna and Reg.

Maggie came out of the door, took one look at Katty's face, and laughed. "Painful, right?" she commented as they walked away.

"I thought she was trying to recruit me to drink the Kool-Aid." Katty muttered with a frown. The woman had high hopes for Alexandria, Katty just wasn't sold yet.

Maggie laughed carelessly. "We all had to go through that spiel, I'm afraid."

Katty peered at her around her hair, "Sorry you had to sit through it twice, then."

She waved her away. "That column joke you told was punishment enough, it made sitting with Deanna look easy."

It was Katty's turn to laugh. "I'd try to comfort you and say that I have better ones, but I don't."

"Something to look forward to, then."

"Exactly." Katty looked around at their surroundings. "So, tour guide, tour me around."

Maggie rolled her eyes before squinting in the distance. "Glenn! Come meet Katty!"

Katty inwardly cringed but attempted to appear friendly. She didn't really want to meet anyone else today, to be honest.

The man named Glenn approached, and Katty was surprised to find another person around her age. He was of Korean descent, with dark hair and dark eyes, and approached them with a smile. He quickly reached out a hand to lovingly squeeze Maggie's side, and she laughed.

"Katty, this is Glenn, my husband. Glenn, this is the newbie."

Glenn extended his hand towards her. "Nice to meet you. Cool eyes," he commented, peering at her interestedly.

"Right? I thought she looked familiar," Maggie added, and they both stared at her. "I think it's the eyes."

Katty didn't want to ask her if she shopped at Victoria's Secret. Before the apocalypse, she had gotten lucky in California and had been scouted while waitressing. Katty got offered a chance to audition to be an underwear model. She had initially thought the man that approached her was trying to trick her into doing porn, but was surprised when she Googled him on her break and found he was a legitimate source. She had signed a two-year contract with Victoria's Secret a few months before the world stopped, and had gotten a few pictures of her up on the website, modelling their swimwear.

She didn't exactly like modelling, but it was better money that serving, and Katty had a lot of student loans to pay off.

But already being a repeated drop out and a waitress didn't paint her in the most accomplished picture in the apocalypse, and Katty didn't want to add to that list by disclosing she was a model as well. So she simply shrugged and refrained from advertising that.

"Maybe I just have a common face," she offered.

Maggie squinted at her for the second time that day, "Not really, but oh well." She looked around Alexandria, and then back to Katty. "What have you done or seen so far?"

"Well, I've gotten all my shit taken away from me, I've stolen clothes from Rosita, and I've offended Daryl, for starts."

Glenn let out a startled laugh and looked over to her with a grin. "What happened with Daryl?"

"I called him hot."

Glenn guffawed and stopped to rest his hand on his knees while he laughed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Language," Maggie snapped and swatted at him, which Glenn effectively ignored.

"No, I'm sorry, you called Daryl, like _Daryl Dixon_ , hot? To his face?"

"It's been a difficult day. I've found out I'm not as funny as I think I am."

They both laughed at her sullen expression.

"I know I'm taken and everything so options are slim, but Daryl? Really?"

Maggie picked up a small rock and chucked it at him. Katty rolled her eyes at Glenn's disbelieving expression and laughed lightly.

"I'm more into the rough, manly, dirty vibe he's got, Glenn. It really makes me –"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Glenn groaned and slapped a hand to his face. Maggie and Katty both cackled at his discomfort.

"I'm kidding, calm down," Katty laughed. "He hates me now anyways, so it's a mute point."

She would have to think of a way to apologize to Daryl, Katty mused. She wondered how difficult it would be.

They walked around the streets of Alexandria with Glenn and Maggie taking turns explaining the different buildings to her. The infirmary was a smaller white building, located beside the small body of water and across where Aaron and Eric's house was. There were many different homes along that particular block, and Glenn and Maggie supplied the names of who lived in which home when they could, but they weren't entirely sure at times either.

The church was located at one end of Alexandria, with a dark roof and a pointed section at the front of the building. Everything was well preserved and well maintained, with odd touches like lights along the sidewalk where trees were planted. The solar panels were just inside the main gate, and they pointed out the building that housed the armory and the Alexandria inventory, which someone named Olivia was in charge of.

They also explained their jobs to her; Maggie was currently Deanna's assistant, and Glenn went on supply runs. Katty wondered if she would get a chance to leave the walls, or if Deanna would want to keep her under a constant, watchful eye.

A lot of the residents were walking around, chatting with each other and sending Katty curious glances, but thankfully, no one approached them. She had had enough of being sociable with everyone, but was thankful that she seemed to get along well enough with Maggie and Glenn.

A small, quieter part of Katty wanted Alexandria to work out and prove to be something worth protecting; Katty was just finding it difficult to believe that such a place existed after being outside for so long. She decided that tomorrow, she would try more to introduce herself, not only to the other people that lived here, but to Alexandria itself. Maybe if she proved that she was worth more than her previous job as a waitress or her dad's knowledge, they would let her tag along on supply runs. She was quick and somewhat competent, or so she thought.

They ended the tour with the house that she would be staying at. All of the homes were large and fully furnished and Katty wondered where the original inhabitants had gone. Deanna had stated that a man named Heath and two other men lived here, and they were all currently out on a run. Most of the homes in Alexandria were composed of four bedrooms, three bathrooms, an attic and a den, so there was one empty bedroom available in Heath's house that Katty was given. She was nervous to be in a home with three men who she didn't know and she wondered when they'd return and if they'd care she was there for the time being.

Glenn and Maggie explained which house they were in, one which was a few houses away, and that they would try to introduce her to whoever was around from their group tomorrow. Tomorrow she was supposed to go over to the infirmary at some point to familiarize herself with what Alexandria already had in supply, and help organize supplies.

When she walked in the house after Maggie and Glenn had said goodbye and gone back off to their respective duties, it was the same story as all the other homes. Vaulted ceilings, skylights, and everything looked like it had been chosen from Style at Home Magazine. The walls and furniture were muted and pretty with random splashes of colour in the form of throw pillows, area rugs, and art on the walls.

The kitchen was pristine like the rest of the house, with purposely distressed and faded wood, lighting along the bottoms of the cabinets, and granite countertops that perfectly matched the backsplash of the wall. It made Katty uncomfortable; she felt like she didn't belong.

She walked upstairs and opened a random door. Katty's backpack had been placed on top of the bed, so she assumed it was the free room that was hers for the time being. The hardwood was light and the walls were painted a colour that was somewhere along the spectrum between grey and mauve. She immediately hated the color. The bedspread and headboard were light, with rod iron curling to make a headboard in a weird design that Katty assumed was meant to be modern. There was both a seat at the end of the bed as well as a light coloured fabric armchair in the corner, but upon closer inspection, the one at the end of the bed also opened and acted as storage.

She had a bathroom attached to her room, which was dark and mostly tile and some other expensive, smooth rock which acted as her counter top. There was a large tub against one wall, behind large glass doors. Katty thought it was odd until she noticed that the shower, with two heads available to use, was apart of the large open area.

The two rooms were larger than most of her apartment back in California, and Katty wondered how people were ever able to own enough useless stuff to fill it.

She noticed that she hadn't been given back any of her weapons, and they had even taken the ones that were left in her bag. Just great, she grumped. New, unfamiliar environment and she wouldn't have anything to protect herself with the first night.

Katty immediately went into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife she could find before checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, and going upstairs again.

She didn't feel right going through the other inhabitant's bedrooms. It felt like an invasion of privacy in a world where privacy was a scarce commodity, and she didn't want to be the one to take that away.

Katty wandered over to her window, and when she peered out it, her eyes immediately found a figure sitting on the railing of the house beside the one that Glenn and Maggie had pointed out as their own.

Daryl.

She chewed her full lips and watched him for a few minutes, contemplating how she was going to apologize to him. He was smoking, and she could just barely see the tendrils of smoke twisting in to the air and disappearing.

It reminded her of Calum, and how he always let out a whoop when they found a fresh pack of cigarettes. She'd never smoked a cigarette before, being scared off by her dad that it would turn her teeth and nails yellow. Ironically, dying of lung cancer was the last of anyone's worries right now.

Thinking of Calum gave her an idea how to make peace with Daryl, and she quickly checked her bag to see if the item in question was still there.

She let out a happy noise once she found it. Success!

She would deal with it tomorrow though, she procrastinated as she decided her few clothes, hygiene products and things she had collected on the road should be unpacked.

If Katty had gone back to the window and looked for a little longer, she might have noticed the direction that Daryl was facing. Or the fact that his head was slightly inclined towards her window as he breathed another cloud of nicotine out. But she didn't. So she didn't.

Stars, indeed.

* * *

 **A/N:** You finished the chapter! Yay! Please leave a review and let me know what you think, I'm still getting the hang of writing in this universe and trying to include all the characters sufficiently and respectfully.

I plan to try to keep everyone as in character as I can, and I'm going to avoid bashing on Carol or Jessie or anyone else; the show does a good job of showing dynamic relationships and I want to be able to do that too.

See you next time!

-Submechanophobia


	3. Heal

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! Thank you for taking the time to give this story a shot, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Thank you so much to** **Lykae'Sky** **,** **TheHungryRainbow** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Guest** **, & ****Teacup** **for reviewing and thank you everyone else that added this story to their alert list or favourites. It made me so psyched to see that. Keep'em comin'!**

 **jeanf** : **Thanks for your input! I actually thought about Daryl's reaction for a while and had a few different ideas before I settled on that one. I definitely am planning on writing some chapters from his point of view, once there's more to say and I will address his thoughts about that whole scene. I was trying to write it in that way that it seemed rough, because he is a rough character sometimes, and I think that at this point (early on in Alexandria) he's still pretty broken up and angry, whether it be about Beth or trying to get used to being in Alexandria. Sorry if it seemed too rough or made you uncomfortable, I tried to get across that Katty wasn't actually hurt or traumatized over it, just bumped around a bit. Thanks again for leaving a review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

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Chapter 3: Heal

Katty stood in the kitchen, leaned against the counter as she ate a bowel of oat porridge for breakfast. She had been awake for a few hours, but had only decided to eat once she deemed it an acceptable hour for breakfast. Not that she had a clue what time it was, she went off the appearance of the sun. Katty wondered if they had working, accurate timepieces in Alexandria.

Sleep hadn't come easy to Katty the previous night, and it hadn't been consistent. She had expected it though, as her circadian rhythm had been thrown off from before. Outside, she hadn't experienced regular sleeping hours. You slept when you could, taking short naps and a few hours at a time to rest and recharge, whether it was during the day or at night.

Even before the end of the world, Katty never slept well. She never understood when people would use the term 'drifting' in reference to sleep. _I drifted off to sleep_. It was foreign to her; she never drifted. She never floated, or glided from dreaming to awakening. She always slipped, fell, jumped, jerked. Sleep wasn't a place that she left; she would simply not be awake and then suddenly stumble into the waking world.

She had also spent a lot of time in trees over the last few months, so she had a lot of trouble getting accustomed to the expensive queen sized mattress in her room.

 _Her room._

That was a phrase that Katty had figured wasn't ever going to swipe over her conscious mind again; only in her dreams had she thought it was possible that a house with a room existed for her in the current day. It wasn't really her room though, she thought. She didn't decorate it, didn't choose it, didn't earn it, nothing about this place belonged to her yet, and she wondered if there was going to be a time when she thought of Alexandria as her home.

It still surprised her when she turned the faucet on and something other than the last stream of rust coated, contaminated water dribbled out. She filled a glass and sat at the wooden table, glancing around at the room again. She reached for a coaster at first, her instincts wanting to preserve the expensive piece of furniture for longer. But something made her stop and Katty parked the cup on the table without it. Maybe if the table had rings on it, she would feel more at home. Was that an odd thought? Probably.

A knock sounded somewhere, and Katty quirked her head, confused what it was, before she realized that someone had knocked on the front door. How sad that such a simple thing was such a foreign concept to her now.

Rosita's pretty face greeted her once she opened the door, and Katty was pleased to see that she had her favourite pants in her arms, along with other clothes.

"I didn't even try to wash your other clothes, I just threw them out," was the first thing that Rosita said.

Katty blinked at her and took another bite of her food. "Morning," she mumbled while chewing. "Porridge?"

Rosita looked down at her bowl disdainfully. "No thanks." Rosita brushed past her and walked into her house.

Katty stood there for a moment, looking at the place that the other woman was just standing. "No, please, come in." she sarcastically drawled at the empty space standing in front of her.

"I'm putting extra clothes in your room," Rosita called over her shoulder at Katty as Katty slunk back into the house, closing the door. Rosita disappeared for a minute before returning to find Katty sitting on the couch, finishing her porridge.

"Nice outfit."

Katty glanced down at herself. The closet in her room was mostly empty, but random clothes were left, so she had taken some of them for pajamas. Currently, she was wearing an oversized stereotypical tourist shirt that you would find in Mexico. It was white with the body of a lady wearing bikini bottoms and ice cream cones covering where the character's breasts were. The cotton shorts she found fit, but were also covered in sequins. Katty couldn't figure out why someone wouldn't take these clothes with them when fleeing from Biters, but their loss were her pajamas.

"Thanks. Picked it out myself," Katty replied, chewing her breakfast thoughtfully and looking at Rosita.

Rosita quirked a smile at her and then clapped her hands together. "You're with me today. Rick said."

Katty lifted her eyebrows, slightly unimpressed. "I don't need a babysitter, thanks though."

"Good, because I'm not a babysitter," she looked at her for a moment, hands on her hips, and continued. "I'm going to be blunt, because I think you're blunt and will appreciate this. We don't know you, we just want to be careful."

Katty wanted to tell her to fuck off, that she didn't need people following her around for Rick or Deanna's benefit, but like yesterday, she kept her mouth shut. She needed them to trust her, and she was the alien here, not them. So it didn't matter that she was going to have everyone in Rick's group probably watching her every move and waiting for her to fuck up. She would either have to deal with it, or leave. Katty didn't say any of that, and she simply shrugged instead.

"Glenn and Maggie were saying yesterday that I should go to the infirmary and help sort supplies, and try to think of any herbs in the area that could replace or help what we already have."

Rosita nodded along to what she was saying. "Yeah, that's fine with me. I usually spend most of my days there anyways; medical assistant when I'm not watching over the wall." She clarified. "I'll wait for you to get changed."

Katty attempted to keep her face straight as she glanced up at Rosita from her seat. "I thought you said you liked my outfit."

"I do. We don't want the other residents jealous and trying to steal from you, though." Rosita managed to keep her face straight as well, though there was laughter dancing in her eyes.

Katty pretended to look pensive and furrowed her brows. "You're right, I need to blend in and not make enemies."

Rosita rolled her eyes and Katty got up and dropped her bowl and spoon in the sink. She would clean it later, when she had nothing to do. When she got upstairs, she found that Rosita had left some things folded on her bed, and she immediately grabbed her black jeans. She smiled. Someone had also fixed them for her; there were now pieces of leather or fake leather stitched at the front of her knees, much like the pants Rosita was currently wearing. It covered the rips that were previously there, and actually looked kind of good.

Katty grabbed a random vest top that Rosita had left for her, a dark, muddy green one, then ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it and pulled on her boots before going back downstairs.

Rosita was waiting at her at the front door. When she saw Katty, she pulled the door open and stepped outside. Katty glanced at her abandoned water glass on the wooden table, and closed the door behind her.

"Thanks for washing and fixing my pants, by the way," Katty commented while they walked to the infirmary.

"Thank Carol, then. She's the one that stitched the patches on the knees," Rosita replied.

"I don't think I've met her yet," Katty pondered, trying to recall the list of people she had been introduced to yesterday.

"You will. She's like, – uh, our den mother," Katty frowned at the small, secretive laugh that Rosita let out. What was funny?

When they got to the infirmary, there was already another person there. It was another woman, either Katty's age or a few years older, and she offered them both a smile as they walked in. Her hair was dark and collected in a low ponytail, accompanied by dark eyes and thick eyebrows.

"'Sup." Was all she said. Americans were so funny sometimes, Katty thought at the colloquial greeting.

"Katty, this is Tara. Tara, Katty," Rosita waved her hand in between them both, supplying them both with half-assed introductions.

Katty awkwardly raised her hand in a quick wave, and Tara grinned and looked her up and down.

"So this is the reason Daryl was so mad yesterday? You're pretty, though," She frowned at her.

"Wot?" was the only unintelligible word that Katty replied.

Rosita rolled her eyes at the other girl, "Tara, knock it off."

Tara raised both her hands in mock surrender, "I'm just saying, if a cute girl like her had said that to me I wouldn't have been so bitchy about it."

"Apparently I don't make good first impressions." Katty scratched the back of her neck.

"I dunno; Glenn, Maggie and Michonne all thought you were pretty funny." Tara supplied hopefully.

Katty replied by rolling her eyes. "Sadly, there's a difference between being funny and having people laugh at you."

Tara laughed and Rosita walked by them, carrying a large, open topped box. She plunked it down in front of them.

"Get to work, ladies. There's this box and four more that we get to unpack, organize, and keep inventory of. After that we have to make a list of supplies we need for the next run," Rosita glanced around them. "Where's Pete? He should be here helping, since he _is_ the doctor."

Tara scoffed. "Really? When has he ever helped with anything like this. He just drinks beer on his porch."

Katty pulled the box towards her and started unpacking it slowly, listening to the two women complain about the resident doctor. She had nothing to add, but just found it interesting that people still found topics to gossip about, even in the apocalypse.

The three of them worked in silence for a while, with the occasional comment about the count of gauze, tubing, sterile packages of bandages, and anything else that the box contained. It was mostly comprised of wound dressings of different sizes, packings, and a few boxes of gloves. It was a lot of the lighter supplies, and Katty was impressed at the sheer number that they had managed to acquire.

"Is there a hospital nearby? I can't believe there's all this and four other boxes of it." Katty commented and she wound an elastic band around packages of gauze to keep them together.

"Not nearby. All this stuff is from before we got here, the other team that makes supply runs went on a previous long trip and then left again before we arrived. It hasn't gotten unpacked yet because they're lucky. They haven't really had to use it. Hence why Pete is sitting around a lot lately," Rosita explained, squinting at the pile of IV tubing in front of her, trying to count it.

"So I already met Glenn. Who else makes supply runs?" Katty inquired.

"Not sure the names of the ones that are out right now, but currently it's Glenn, myself, Noah, Nicholas and Aiden," Tara listed off easily. "I'd watch out for Aiden and Nicholas though. They won't exactly have your back if you went out there."

Katty frowned at her, confused. "How can a team that goes outside the walls not rely on each other?"

Tara sighed. "It's pretty messed up right now, like segregated. Aiden tries to make it really into some us versus them thing. Him and Glenn got into it a while ago, and Glenn laid him out. Nicholas isn't as bad, just kind of cowardly. They're both reckless and _completely_ ignorant, though." She added angrily.

"Sounds like they're going to get someone killed," Katty commented, more to herself.

"I think they already have," Tara continued, sounding frustrated. "Told some stupid story how they lost four other team members somehow and they tied up some walker so that they could kill it before the next run. Me, Glenn, and Noah went on that run, and it almost got us killed."

Katty was sure her eyebrows had touched her hairline with how much she felt herself raising them. "They sound lovely," she commented sarcastically. Tara scoffed again and a short silence occurred before Katty opened her mouth again.

"So if I wanted to go out, collect, and map out where medicinal properties are located, who should I ask?" Katty asked, and inwardly cringed at the inflection of her voice as she attempted to sound hopeful.

Tara blinked at her in surprise. "I'm surprised you want to go back out so quickly."

Katty licked her lips and glanced down while she thought her words over. It was difficult to describe how she was feeling sometimes.

"I'm sure I'll get over it; I just feel kind of trapped right now. And I'm worried I'll forget how to defend myself."

Rosita snickered, and Katty glanced at her. "Sorry. You just reminded me of a surly redneck is all. He stalks around like a caged tiger lately."

"If you really want to go out, I can put in a good word for you. I'd say I would just take you out with Glenn or something, but we haven't been here that long and we still have to clear it with Deanna first. So she might decide that Aiden should come too," Tara warned, but Katty was still happy with the idea.

"Thanks, Tara. As long as it isn't just me and Aiden, I'll be alright. I can take care of myself; I just don't want to have to deal with him alone."

She nodded back at Katty. "Fair enough. I'll talk to Rick and Deanna."

After that, the conversation thinned out, and they worked for a few more hours. Katty found that she actually didn't mind their company. They were both kind hearted and Tara would make the odd jokingly flirty comment at Katty, which Rosita would either roll her eyes at or tell Tara to 'shut it'. Katty was entertained, to say the least. They worked through three of the five boxes in total and had scribed an inventory of what came out of all of them, before Rosita decided to call for a break.

Rosita waved Katty away, "You don't have to stay if you want. Just come back in like an hour or something, whenever you get bored. I'm going to go see what Abraham's doing, but if you want to go home for a bit or walk around, feel free. I won't follow you," she sent a wink Katty's way and stood up, brushing her pants off.

Katty followed suit and stood up. Tara stretched her arms above her head, a few joints cracking in protest.

"If you see Pete, tell him to get his ass down here. His house is on the corner next to ours." Tara called after her as she walked out the door to the infirmary. Katty waved in acknowledgement over her shoulder.

She wasn't hungry, so she decided to just walk around and get familiar with the town. In all honesty, she knew most of the layout of Alexandria. After a few times of Aaron and Eric visiting her, she had followed them back at one point and had effectively kept hidden. Katty wanted to know if Aaron and Eric were full of shit or not, so she had perched in a tree for some odd hours and just watched all the different sorts of people going about their day in Alexandria. She had been surprised at the lack of guard posts, sharp shooters, or anyone on patrol really. Woodbury had all of that in abundance, so Alexandria had seemed naïve in comparison. She figured it was only a matter of time before they got picked off, which was a large part of the reason why she had declined Aaron and Eric's invitation for so long.

Katty walked slowly as she passed by where she was staying and approached the houses that kept Rick and his group. She was hoping that she would run into Daryl, smoking on the veranda like she had seen him yesterday, but he wasn't there. Katty had been carrying around her peace offering all morning, and was disappointed at the prospect that she might not give it to him today. She fiddled with the small box in her pocket as she meandered around, before she was interrupted from her thoughts.

"Daryl isn't here if you're looking for him," Katty stiffened and quickly turned around, somewhat surprised with what she saw.

There was an older woman with short hair composed of different hues of grey and she wore a tight lipped expression as she observed Katty. She was surprised by what she saw, because the woman was dressed in a floral sweater and slacks, and carting around a baby in a stroller. The clothes and the baby didn't match the woman's stern expression, and the collocation made Katty raise her eyebrows.

The surprise didn't last for long, before Katty felt her face heating up at being called out. She felt like a child with her hand in the cookie jar, and she quickly searched for a suitable lie.

"No – I, uh, was just looking for Aaron, actually," she quickly retaliated, thinking of the first person that came to mind.

The other woman shook her head slightly. "Not here either. Him and Daryl left early this morning, probably won't come back 'til the evening."

"Oh."

She continued to look curiously at Katty, the tight lipped look remaining on her face. She didn't seem to be too pleased with her presence. Katty felt awkward again, and didn't know how to continue the conversation or leave, so she shuffled her feet and glanced around. Her gaze landed on the baby again, who was fixated on Katty as well.

The little human made a disgruntled noise and reached two clumsy, stubby arms at Katty, looking determined. Katty felt a smile crack over her face as she looked at her. She loved kids. She wasn't good at much, she had dropped out of college repeatedly as proof, but she was good with kids. Katty figured if she had to be anything in life, a mom was a good option.

"Judith likes you," The grey-haired lady commented, smiling lightly down at the baby.

"I like Judith," Katty supplied back simply, but didn't make a move towards Judith. "Is she yours?" she asked with a nod at her. It was odd to see a baby in the apocalypse, but Katty couldn't say it didn't make something akin to hope simmer inside her as she looked at the baby.

She shook her head at Katty for the second time. "Ricks." Katty's eyes widened slightly, surprised that Rick had a child. She supposed that it did make sense though, he had a protective streak in him like a father would.

"I'm Katty."

"Carol," the woman replied, and a light flicked on in Katty's head.

"Right! The den mother," Katty grinned at her, and Carol managed a smile back at her that Katty thought looked entirely too innocent on her previously stern face. "You fixed my pants. Thank you so much."

Carol waved her hand in a dismissive motion. "It was nothing. I use to sew a lot before it all, so it was quick."

"No, no, don't be humble. This looks ace, Carol. You didn't have to do it, or make it look so top. My knees thank you as well." Katty hoped the grin on her face conveyed how much she liked the new addition.

"You know, Rosita tried to throw them out before I offered to sew patches on them."

Katty's face dropped into one of shock. "What? I told her they were my favourite!" She scowled in the direction of the infirmary.

Carol looked amused at Katty's displeasure, and looked like she was about to say something before they both jerked their heads in the direction that a loud crash came from.

Katty didn't hesitate, she ran without a thought and without any protection in the direction it had come from, the house on the corner. She didn't turn to see if Carol was following her, but she heard the stroller that contained Judith rolling hurriedly against the pavement, so she assumed she was following her.

She opened the door to find a blonde woman on the floor near the staircase, looking confused and disoriented. Looming above her was a much larger, blonde haired man who looked shocked at Katty's intrusion. He narrowed his eyes at Katty and stepped closer to the woman on the ground. Katty made a noise of protest, and he paused to direct his attention unto her.

"It's fine, don't worry about her. Happens all the time, sometimes she gets dizzy and falls."

Katty's ears burned and she scowled at his unconcerned tone towards what she assumed was his wife.

"Happens all the time, huh?" she questioned, and was very aware that the flat tone of her voice held all the accusations she felt.

The man stopped his ministrations and stiffened, before looking up at Katty and scowling. The look on his face told her all she needed to know, and she felt her own face morph from a frown into a glower.

"Not that it's any of your business, anyways." The man's voice was low and threatening. He reminded her of any one of the copious amounts of men that had the title of boyfriend to her mother, after her parents got divorced.

"Oh, Jessie, let me help you. Katty, keep an eye on Judith," Carol quickly situated Judith's stroller inside the doorway and put the breaks on it before helping Jessie to her feet. She glanced at Katty with a serious expression on her face, before ignoring the other man completely and slowly walked Jessie out of the room.

"She's clumsy, that one," he stated offhandedly, his eyes glued to Katty's face. There was a challenge in his eyes, and Katty knew he was baiting her.

Katty probably should have kept her mouth shut. She didn't know these people, she didn't technically _see_ what had happened, but her gut twisted uncomfortably. She _knew_ that it wasn't as innocent as it appeared, and by the look on Carol's face, it wasn't just Katty that felt that way.

"There's a good quote I can't quite remember," Katty started, and she knew the change in subject had thrown the other man off, because he squinted at her, confusion etched into his features.

"Something about not teaching survivors to forgive their attackers. Teach them to instead become angry, and to never stop fighting. That's how they will get true justice and finally heal."

The previous scowl had slipped back on his face, and Katty studied him while he thought of a response. The anger in his eyes was ancient. He had been angry for a long time, and Katty pitied him.

"What the _fuck_ are you implying?" he seethed in her direction, and took a deliberately slow and intimidating step towards her.

Katty immediately retaliated and met him head on. She took a large step in his direction and craned her neck to glare up into his face. Surprise flickered through the anger, and Katty deduced that there hadn't been too many women in his life that hadn't cowered when he walked into a room.

"It means," Katty made sure her voice was sharp and clear and that she enunciated every word clearly, "When Jessie wants to heal, know that I'll be here with her, helping her fight."

He growled and leaned closer to Katty. Katty kept her glare steady and refused to blink or even look away from his mean face. "You don't even know her."

"I do," she immediately snapped back at him. "I know her because I've seen my mother, because I've seen my best friend, because I've seen random women on the street, all cower away from people _just like you_. The stories don't change, only the faces do."

Their bodies were inches apart, and Katty's neck started to hurt as she glared up at him. She felt him shaking, rather than saw it, and she didn't need to look down to know his fists were clenched.

"What are you going to do, hit me?"

There was a tense moment, one in which his arm twitched and Katty really thought he was going to strike her. But –

"I put Jessie to bed, and left some water at the beside table for her."

Katty waited for the other man to step back first before she turned to look at Carol. Carol was leaning against the doorframe, and looked as though she had been for a while. She was looking at the other man calmly, but Katty thought that the look in her eyes was more threatening than anything the either of them had said to each other a moment ago.

Carol was definitely more than just a 'den mother'.

"Great. Thanks," he snapped, before scowling in Katty's direction again. "Get out of my house. Both of you."

Katty sent one last glare in his direction before following Carol and Judith out of the house. The door shut loudly behind them, and Katty could feel herself seething as they walked away from the house.

"There has to be something else we can do. Does Rick know? He can't just –"

Carol sighed. "That's the only surgeon that we have, Katty."

Katty stopped in her tracks and stared at Carol with wide eyes. " _That's_ Pete?"

Carol nodded solemnly, and Katty puffed out and angry breath as she scowled in the direction of Pete's house. She started grumbling ideas of ways that they could harm Pete without getting caught. She knew she was rambling, but Katty was angry and couldn't stop. When she was finally winded, she tried to focus on something else.

Katty glanced at Judith, who was again reaching an arm to her. Katty leaned forward and let Judith grab a couple of her fingers. "Sorry, Judith, but if you ever bring home a man like that, I'll tell your dad and we'll take turns cutting off his appendages with a butter knife, starting with his _favourite_ one. Yes, we will!" she cooed at the beautiful child, her happy tone contrasting with her words. Judith laughed and Katty beamed at her.

She then looked up to see Carol watching her with softened eyes, and she felt her face heat up again.

Standing up straight, she pointed over her shoulder. "I should really get back to Rosita and Tara, or they might make me finish unpacking by myself." She offered weakly.

Carol nodded. "We'll continue our walk then. Come on, Judith."

They passed each other and Katty was only about fifteen feet away before Carol paused her steps to call out to her again. Katty turned around and noticed that even from this distance, she could see the light smile on Carol's face.

"Daryl sometimes goes over to Aaron and Eric's house to eat dinner or work on the bike when they get back."

Katty's mouth dropped open and her face flushed again, but Carol simply turned and continued walking like she hadn't said anything.

Her mouth opened and closed dumbly a few times, before she bristled uncomfortably and turned on heel and headed back towards the infirmary. Was she really that obvious? She fiddled with the object in her pocket absentmindedly.

When she opened the door to the infirmary, Rosita and Tara were standing around and talking. Katty was glad that they hadn't started without her.

"Hey, did you see Pete?" Rosita asked offhandedly as she dragged out another box.

Katty froze before she remembered that the man was supposed to be down there with them, helping unpack and organize.

"No." she bit out stiffly. It was no use telling them about what had happened. It wasn't her story to tell, and it wouldn't do anything other than probably cause more pain for his family and discomfort. He was their only doctor, after all. It didn't sit right with Katty, but she didn't know what else to do.

They both glanced at her and then each other, wondering why Katty had suddenly developed a tone.

"Something piss you off?" Tara asked with an arched brow.

Katty sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "You have no idea."

The rest of the afternoon went by slowly but consistently as they all worked and recorded everything. The last box had contained a large case of different medications that the girls did their best in identifying all the familiar ones for the inventory list. It was helpful to know so they knew what they were missing and needed more of. Pete would have to check everything whenever he decided to next show up, to make sure that they hadn't done something like confused Clozapine with Clonazepam.

Katty got along quite well with the two women. They talked about the people in Rick's group that she hadn't met yet, and random facts that they had found out during their own short stay at Alexandria. Apparently Rick had another child, Carl, and Rosita was romantically involved with a man named Abraham. Katty tried to keep up with the names and remember that someone named Eugene had a mullet, but she pacified her worries by telling herself that if she met them it would make more sense.

After staying to chat with them for a few hours, Rosita glanced at her watch and declared that it was soon to be time for her shift patrolling the wall. So they admired their finished and beautifully organized supply closet and shelving for another minute before parting ways.

Katty figured it was getting into the evening, so she decided to go back to the house for a bit before harassing Aaron and Eric, and hopefully Daryl. She took her time walking back to the four-bedroom abode, and washed her dish in the sink from the morning. She reluctantly removed the water glass from the table to discover that it hadn't left a ring yet. It wasn't her table, but Katty wasn't sure if she was glad or disappointed the table had remained perfect in her absence.

Katty busied herself around the house for another hour or so, finding odd jobs to do, and ended with herself refolding and putting away the items that Rosita had brought her. She had told her today that the next time that the team went on a run to the closest department store, they would look for some more clothing items and footwear for her. Katty appreciated the notion, but hoped that she would be going out with them when the time came.

When she found herself silently sitting on the couch with nothing to do, Katty decided it was time to bite the bullet and see if the two had returned from wherever they had gone today. If they weren't there, she would just hang out with Eric until she could corner Daryl and apologize profusely. She thought she had done an alright job of getting Rick's group, for the most part, to not hate her, and she really didn't want Daryl to think ill of her.

She trotted over to Eric and Aaron's house, and knocked softly. When Aaron opened the door, she wasn't sure if she was relieved or terrified.

"Hey," Aaron greeted her easily, and she attempted to smile back and look as though she wasn't nervous. "We were wondering when you'd eventually stop by," he stepped aside and held the door open while she stiffly walked through it. "How was your first full day here?"

"Spent it with Rosita and Tara. They're nice," Katty said with a shrug. Again, she was going to leave out the altercation with Pete and he feelings about that scenario.

"Good, so you didn't offend anyone else?" Aaron offered her a cheeky grin, and Katty swatted at him playfully. She didn't respond either, both because she didn't want to dignify that with a response and because she had, in fact, greatly offended someone and didn't want to get into it.

"Hey, long time no see, my pet." Eric said to her from a pot he was stirring in the kitchen.

"Pet?" Katty wasn't sure she liked where this was going.

"Yup, you and Daryl are like stray cats that we feed but wont let us cuddle them." Eric took his thumb and dotted some sauce on her nose with a grin. "It's just about ready if you want to stay for dinner."

"Thanks," she paused. "So… Daryl's here?" she tried to sound casual, and slowly glanced around, looking for the aforementioned person.

"Told ya," Aaron called to Eric from their office.

"Yup, you did." Eric agreed.

Katty groaned and dragged a hand down her face. "Shut up, don't make this more painful for me than it has to be."

"He's in the garage. Wait and I'll make a plate for you to take to him," Eric offered, and Katty wondered if he would even take it if she brought it. Nonetheless, she agreed and waited while Eric put together two plates of pasta. She blanched when she realized that she would be eating with Daryl alone.

He handed them to her too soon, and she was then walking like a turtle to the garage door. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand to knock before deciding that it was a stupid idea and she pushed the door open.

The butterflies in her stomach were moving uncontrollably, and Katty almost dropped the plates when she took note of Daryl leant over a motorcycle, doing God knows what, all arms and shoulders made of muscle and dirty and –

He glanced up briefly, and probably had expected Aaron or Eric, because he did a double take before staring at her.

"Hey," he grunted at her after a brief silence, or that's what she thought it had sounded like. He looked just as uneasy as she felt, surprisingly. He didn't seem as angry as he had yesterday, either.

She apparently was silent for too long, because he stopped what he was doing completely to turn towards her.

"Hi."

Did that sound dumb? What else could she have said, when him simply greeting her was enough to make her forget how to say 'Hello'.

"That for me?" he asked, gesturing to the larger plate in her hand. She nodded dumbly and handed the dish to his out stretched hand, that was covered in grease and dirt. It made her smile slightly, the look suited him.

A thick, awkward silence covered them as he leaned against the wooden shelving where some tools and odd parts were kept.

This wasn't how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to make some monumental apology and end with a witty, clever comment that made him laugh and instantly forgive her. It wasn't supposed to be awkward and she wasn't supposed to just sit here and stare at him eat like a creep.

Daryl was focussed on the food in front of him, and Katty took a few quiet, deep breaths.

"I'm sorry."

He immediately glanced up with a furrowed brow at her, looking almost confused. He was probably confused at why her apology was so shitty, she thought.

"I honestly didn't want to piss you off; it was my attempt at a shitty joke to break the ice. That isn't an excuse, though, and I just wanted to explain and say I'm sorry that I spoke about you or your family like I know shit, or made you feel threatened or defensive or embarrassed or anything," Katty wasn't sure if that apology even made sense, she just kind of rambled out something until she couldn't think or any more words for Daryl. She tried to maintain eye contact with him, but after the first initial 'I'm sorry', she lost her nerve and retreated her gaze to anywhere but him.

He watched her with his intense eyes and blinked a few times. Katty wondered if she should just go, he probably didn't want to talk to her or look at her and she was just –

"'S'alright," her murmured at Katty, and he was now shoving his food around his plate with his fork, basically playing with it. Katty was stuck by how he chewed his lip for a moment, and tried to figure out what he was feeling. Did he look embarrassed?

"Shouldn't have pushed ya. Ya okay?" he nervously flicked his eyes up to her again and then back down to his plate.

"Yeah, no, I'm – completely fine," she felt her heart speed up as she watched him.

He looked up at Katty again and nodded solidly at her, and she remembered she had brought him something.

Katty quickly stepped forward and placed her plate on the tabletop beside him before reaching into her pocket and grabbing the item she had been carrying around all day. She placed the unopened, but slightly squashed carton of cigarettes beside him.

He looked confused again.

"Peace offering," she said with a smile.

"Nah, don't," he shook his head at her, "Take it," Daryl immediately grabbed it off the wooden surface and tried to give it back to her.

Katty raised her hands in the air and shook her head, her smile still in place. "Nope, no take backs, Daryl. I don't smoke anyways, so you can think of it like you're doing me a favour, if you want."

He hesitated, and then nodded at her. "Thanks." He busied his hand with toying with the package for a minute, before opening it and popping a cigarette out of it.

"Why d'ya have 'em then, if ya don't smoke?" Daryl fumbled in his pockets for his lighter before he flicked it a few times and cupped his hand around the end of the smoke to light it.

"Friend I was with smoked, but he's somewhere that I'm not and I don't think he'll need them," she tried to keep the sadness out of her voice when she spoke about Calum, but she knew a sad smile was on her face by the concerned look he shot her way.

"Sorry," Daryl said, and then added, "That ya lost 'im." The garage door was open so he didn't bother to go outside with it, Daryl just stood there and quietly smoked.

Katty shrugged. "Maybe I'll see him again someday, who knows." He nodded again at her, and she watched him smoke for a while, blowing it out in the direction of the open door.

She couldn't help herself. "Like Merle, right? Maybe we'll see him again."

Daryl paused to look over at her. "He died," he stated simply in a softer voice than his usual rasp, and watched Katty for her reaction.

Her heart and gut immediately clenched, and she thought she stopped breathing for a second. There was a familiar, thick feeling in the back of her throat, one that she hadn't felt since she last cried over Calum. The space behind her eyes burned, and Katty didn't look at Daryl, in fear that she would lose it if she did. A large part of her wanted to call him a liar. There's no way that Merle, Merle _fucking_ Dixon, could be dead. But she recognized the honest tone in Daryl's voice, and didn't question it out loud. What reason would he have to lie?

She swallowed thickly and took a long, slow, deep breath. "I'm sorry," she licked her lips and fiddled with a string on her jeans. "He was rough and hard to deal with half the time – most of the time, but he was always unashamedly and irrevocably Merle." She sent a sidelong glance his way. "He talked about you a lot, you know. Cared a lot in his own, messed up way."

Katty assumed that Rick had told Daryl everything that she had said the previous day after Daryl had stormed off, because he didn't ask any questions or seem confused as to why she knew him. If not, she anticipated that she would explain it to him one of these days. She hoped that eventually she would get to tell him the whole story of how Merle saved her life. Katty knew it wasn't going to be tonight, though. It was much too long a story, and she had a few too many butterflies for her to concentrate for that long.

Daryl had a softer look on his face as he listened to her speak about his brother in silence, and Katty decided that she liked the expression. Daryl wasn't what someone might call conventionally attractive, but he was something and she wanted to figure out what exactly that something was.

Katty glanced at him again, hopefully. "Maybe we can swap stories sometime about him. I'm sure you have some good ones." She offered Daryl a small smile to accompany the suggestion.

He raised his thumb to his mouth and chewed on the skin by the nail as he mulled over her words. Katty always found the most interesting people were the ones that thought their words over twice before they said them.

"Yeah," Daryl finally agreed. "I have a few."

Katty stood there for a minute, raking her eyes over his profile as he focussed his gaze on something random in the garage. He fidgeted under her stare, and Katty knew she was probably making him uncomfortable.

Against her better judgment, Katty quickly reached out a light hand and placed it on his forearm.

Daryl flinched and stiffened at the contact, but he finally looked at her again, which is what Katty wanted. She dropped her hand from his arm quickly.

"Thanks for listening to me ramble," she said gently, "I'll let you get back to the bike now."

Daryl didn't say anything as she grabbed her untouched plate from beside him and took her leave. When she glanced back at him from the doorway, Daryl looked deep in thought, and she smiled at the scene.

Once Katty shut the door to the garage behind her, she quickly scarfed down her now almost cold plate of food. It didn't make a difference with her, and it still tasted better than anything she had eaten outside of Alexandria. Aaron and Eric sent her questioning looks, but she interrupted anything that they threw at her with compliments to the chef and assertions that she was tired. She probably looked nuts, but she didn't want to talk about Daryl with them, and Katty made a half-assed excuse to leave and retire to the house she was staying at.

That was it, she thought to herself as she strolled home in the evening light. It didn't happen with some monumental apology or witty comments; it didn't happen with humour or passionate sidelong glances. But something did happen, even if that something didn't have a name yet.

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 **A/N:** I know I've been skimpy on the Daryl interaction lately, don't worry though, more to come!

Please feed a writer and leave a review, I love reading people's thoughts and comments.

-Submechanophobia


	4. Valuable

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! This one starts off in Daryl's POV, and switches back to Katty after a while. :) Enjoy!**

 **Thank you so much to** **TheHungryRainbow** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Javi** **,** **addicted2memories** **, and** **Bactrian Camel** **for reviewing. Everyone was so kind! Thanks also to everyone new that has added this story to their favourites or alerts.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

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Chapter 4: Valuable

Daryl, like usual, was up before anyone else, even the sun. He had walked the perimeter around Alexandria when he had woken up, both to stretch his stiff legs and because he was doubtful of the security that the Safe-Zone had promised to them. Daryl was feeling unsociable and reserved that morning, so he avoided Sasha and Noah, who were finishing up the third watch. It was the shit shift that no one wanted, and though he normally stopped by and exchanged a few words with whoever was on watch, these two he decided against talking to. Both for different, but interlinked reasons.

Sasha, because she was generally on edge and still in the middle of dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for good reasons. Losing Bob and then Tyreese shortly after, her opinion of Alexandria and the reality of the apocalypse was understandable. It bothered Daryl, however, that he recognized, in the back of his mind, that he wasn't that far off from becoming Sasha. Especially after the loss of –.

He scowled to himself and attempted to wipe the appearance of her name from his mind. Daryl could picture her blonde hair and sweet face, taunting him and wracking him with guilt, and he couldn't afford to let it consume him. He had almost done that before they had been found by Aaron, and he couldn't allow that to happen again if he wanted to keep everyone safe.

It was a similar reason, why he avoided Noah. He was a reminder of the one that they had lost, the girl that was too good for this world. She had kept him together when he had given up, and Daryl repaid her by letting her die, minutes from being with her family again. He knew Noah still felt guilty, he could see it in his eyes that he still blamed himself for the trade going awry that day. Daryl empathized with Noah, though he wouldn't say it. He, too, was guilty.

So he avoided them. And he would, until her face in his mind didn't cause his throat to constrict painfully.

Daryl wondered bleakly if that would ever happen.

So he was currently leaning against the railing of the main house, and fiddling with the slightly squashed package of Morley's in his hand.

She looked so different from her, and Daryl welcomed the change. He had trouble remembering her name, but the low, smoky tone of her voice was appealing. Appealing in the way that it was different from the light trill of a dead girl that had haunted him for so long. Their accents couldn't have been more different either, and he wondered if most of his tolerance of her came from these differences. Her hair was dark and she had weird eyes that reminded him of those fluffy white cats. She was attractive and lean and he remembered scolding himself when he stared at her ass when she left him in the garage last night. A girl that had options, even in the apocalypse.

After his initial blow up at her the day before yesterday, he had spent the majority of yesterday sulking, which had even annoyed him. He regretted shoving her, and felt embarrassed that he snapped to the point of laying a hand on a woman. He had always told himself that he wasn't his father, and it made him angry that he had fucked up that badly.

He had been trying to distract himself and avoid thinking about a way to bury the situation, when she had shown up. She had come bearing awkward stares and plates full of pasta, and he had been shocked, to say the least. Even more so when two of the first three words out of her mouth contained an apology.

He had overreacted, and was confused why _she_ was apologizing. Daryl had expected her to hate him, not deliver a clumsy monologue to explain her off sense of humour and apologize to him.

Rick had explained everything that she had told him, and he couldn't lie and say he wasn't curious about her. Her involvement with Merle, Woodbury, how she ended up in Virginia. At one point he had questioned her relationship with Merle, and if she had fucked him, but Daryl had changed his mind when he heard her talk about him. She had spoken about him in a way that you would reference a family member, not a lover.

She looked ready to cry over the news that Merle was dead, and Daryl didn't understand. No one had cared about Merle, cried for Merle. Except for him.

"Morning, Daryl," he resisted jumping when the accented voice sounded out of his field of view.

Turning quickly, he flicked his eyes along her form and studied her briefly. She was petite, with wide hips that were accentuated with black jeans that hung low on her hips. They probably had once fit properly, but now they disclosed her hip bones and a sliver of olive-toned skin. He glanced back to her face. She really was girly and young looking, even after the apocalypse had taken it's toll on her. Her large, different coloured eyed stuck out to him, along with her almost disproportionately full lips.

He grunted a greeting at her, and she took that as an invitation to walk up the steps and stand by him. Daryl was grateful that she kept some sort of distance between them, though.

"What're you doing up this early?" she asked him after leaning her elbows on the railing and subsequently, her chin in her open palm.

"Waitin' for Aaron. We like ta leave early," he supplied as he withdrew a cigarette from the pack and lit it. He saw her glance at it shortly and try to hide a smile.

"I'm an early riser too," she offered, even though he hadn't asked. "Not good at being asleep."

"Me neither."

Daryl watched her incline her head towards him and study him, and he wondered what she was thinking. She glanced around him at his crossbow balancing against the rail beside him.

She let out a low, appreciative whistle. "That's fuckin' badass looking."

He glanced down at the crossbow too. It was definitely nicer than his old Horton, and way more expensive than the previous, entry level crossbow. Daryl wouldn't have been able to afford this one before the end of the world.

"It's a Bowtech Stryker StrykeZone 380," He recited to her, and inwardly cringed at how eager and proud he sounded of it. He looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Not sure what any of that means, but Chewbacca had a crossbow, so it's cool."

He immediately forgot about his embarrassment, and looked at her strangely. Any trace of geekiness that he felt over his knowledge of crossbows had diminished. She laughed lightly, and Daryl resisted rolling his eyes at what he assumed was another bad joke.

"No, but seriously, it's top. My dad actually had a compound bow he used sometimes when he went hunting. I was never allowed to try it growing up; he thought I'd kill the dog or something, I guess," she supplied, and he found himself amused at their conversation. She sent another envious glance at his crossbow, and he felt pride swell in his chest at the action.

"Did ya hunt much?" he asked, genuinely interested. He couldn't picture her in a forest for the life of him.

She shrugged. "Not really. He taught me some snares and traps, but wasn't really into the idea of me with actual weapons," she looked at the sky that was now bleached with the first sign of daylight with a small smile. "Would have been useful to know though, too bad. Who taught you to hunt?"

"Taught myself," he answered. It was true, for the most part. Daryl's dad had felt that once Daryl was able to carry a weapon, he should be able to provide for himself. He had to learn how to hunt fast, or he might have gone hungry as a kid.

She nodded at him, "That's a valuable skill. I bet you're glad you hung onto it," she commented, referring to his crossbow again.

He nodded back at her in the affirmative. "Yeah. Ya had alotta knives when ya came in, must know how ta use those," Daryl mused, more to himself that her.

She answered anyways. "I'm alright with them," she shot a grin his way, and he assumed that it was her half-assed attempt at being humble. Daryl had a feeling that she was more than 'alright' with them. "Definitely better with knives than guns, that's for sure."

He scoffed, "Scared of 'em?"

The answering reply came in the form of a shake of her head. "Nah, just not good at it. My accuracy gets messed up with the kickback, I think. Always makes me jump."

Daryl chewed the corner of his thumb and thought for a minute. "Should probably learn," he commented. He refrained himself from offering. That was something that Rick should do, not him. Daryl knew he wasn't anywhere close to being patient, or a good teacher.

The young women looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled at him. It unnerved him, and Daryl glanced away. "Yeah, I guess I should," she replied, and he wondered where the tone in her voice came from. She sounded reminiscent, but he wasn't sure of what.

It was silent for a moment, before she chose to break it. "I'm gonna go back and eat something. If you see Maggie, will you let her know I'll come find her when I'm done?" He nodded at her, acknowledging that he had heard her.

Daryl flinched when her hand reached over a gently touched his forearm for the second time. "Stay safe out there with Aaron, Daryl," she said softly, and he frowned slightly at her in confusion. She smiled at him in return and then slinked her hand off of his arm and walked off. Why was she touching him so much?

He watched her figure retreat back down the street, and Daryl found his eyes drifting back down to her round ass as her hips moved side to side. Damn.

"She's sweet, huh?" he jumped and turned to look at Carol. What the fuck was with all the women sneaking up on him this morning?

Daryl shrugged in response, unsure how to answer Carol's question. He didn't like the look she was giving him, like Carol knew something that he didn't.

Carol continued as if Daryl hadn't given a non-contributing response. "Katty's got a good heart."

Right, that was her name. It refused to stick in his mind, so Daryl figured he would have to think of something else to call her. Katherine didn't suit her either, he thought.

He understood why Carol harboured a soft spot for the younger woman, even if she didn't recognize it. Carol had told him and Rick last night about what happened with Jessie and Pete, and how Katty had responded in the situation. Daryl knew that the small part of Carol that remembered being the beaten housewife probably wished she had someone like Katty to stick up for her. Daryl had been somewhat impressed with the petite girl when Carol had explained what happened. The other half of him frowned at her stupidity, rushing in without protection, and he had wondered how it would have escalated had Carol not been there.

"Hopefully her brain is too." He callously replied. Daryl knew he was being unnecessarily rude, and probably trying to dissuade Carol from making anymore sneaky comments about her.

Carol's lips quirked up into a smile, and she was silent for a minute. Carol was always the one person who consistently could see through him. It was annoying sometimes, but Daryl wouldn't trade her friendship for anything. It was nice, having someone that knew him like that. He didn't have that for the majority of his life, and it was a welcome change.

"It's alright to find a woman attractive, Daryl," she reminded him, and it irked him that Carol sounded amused. Daryl scowled at her.

"Dunno what yer talkin' 'bout."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "So you weren't just checking out her butt?"

Daryl felt his face heat up, and he ducked away from her to grab his crossbow. He would wait for Aaron somewhere else, he decided.

"Checking out whose butt?" Goddamnit.

"Mornin', Aaron," Carol greeted the chipper man that had just appeared. She laughed at Daryl's disgruntled expression and retreated inside.

Aaron grinned at Daryl's annoyed face as they walked towards the vehicle that they would be taking while scouting. The bike had been unreliable at best yesterday, so Daryl would be sadly leaving her behind today.

"What was that about?" Aaron asked curiously, and Daryl rolled his eyes. Everyone around here was so damn nosey.

"Nothin'. Carol just likes ta annoy me."

They hopped in the old truck that would be accompanying them, and it was quiet while they waited for Nicholas to open the gate for them. It finally rolled out of their way, and Aaron shifted the truck and spurred it forward.

"So that wasn't Katty that I saw you talking to before I walked up?"

Daryl groaned and slid a hand roughly down his face. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Katty had felt him watching her, and she couldn't resist swaying her hips more than usual. She had no idea if he had noticed, but it made her grin all the same.

He was interesting, she thought as she chewed on another bowel of oat porridge back at the house. Daryl was quiet and reserved when Merle was loud and obnoxious. Katty hadn't given much thought over the past – what was it? Six, maybe seven or eight months since she had seen Merle? – She hadn't pondered much if Daryl would be a replica of Merle, but she had assumed that as brothers, they would exemplify a lot of the same traits.

Katty wondered just how different they were. It was an odd thought, but the scenarios of how they met her weren't so dissimilar from each other.

* * *

"It's boarded up, let's move on." Katty frowned at the sturdy wood that covered the shop in question. She glanced around at the empty street, checking for the presence of any undead. She felt Calum moving around her and towards the door and rolled her eyes to herself. He just had to check for himself.

Katty wished that she had thought to grab the crowbar from the last town that they were in, but she hadn't thought enough ahead. It would have helped more than the Glock in the front of her pants that she barely knew how to aim.

Calum was a much better shot. He had told her when they had first met that he was a military brat, and had moved around constantly growing up. He had grown up at the shooting range, and he and the rest of the men in his family had often gone on long hunting trips when they could. Which is why Calum carried the rifle, and why Katty carried a bat around instead, even if she had a Glock 17 on her.

Heads were hard to miss with a metal bat, especially when you had played ball as a teenager.

She flipped around at the series of crunches and shattering glass. Calum's innocent face greeted her in the middle of shards of glass and splintered wood.

"You wanker," she groaned at him and looked around again. "You're going to draw them to us."

"It doesn't seem to be boarded up anymore, Katty," he cheeked at her and reached carefully around the window to unlatch the door. "It's a ghost town anyways."

"I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on becoming a ghost," she frowned at him. He sent a grin her way and stepped out of the now open doorway, gesturing for her to go inside. Calum was older that her, he had told her he was 29, but she often felt like his mother. He was easily charming and retained his boyish good looks, and was nothing like what she supposed American military kids were designed to act like. Katty had called him a liar many times, but Calum had never admitted to anything else.

"I'll keep watch then if you're so worried. Go on, find something more useful than that hunk of metal."

She mock glared at him as she passed by and tossed her hair over her shoulder and into Calum's face. It was a small, individually owned sporting good's shop, so she doubted there would be anything left. The owners probably cleaned out anything suitable for the apocalypse.

Katty wondered why they had taken the time to board up the front, as the shop was mostly empty anyways. As she navigated through the dark store, she speculated if they had meant to come back and finish emptying it. Where were they now?

There were some duffel bags and rucksacks, so she grabbed a grey one and started to fill it with whatever she walked by that was useful. She grabbed a few first aid kits, a waterproof match kit, a package of tinder that she found, and even an emergency blanket that was shoved between two shelves. Katty shrugged before grabbing a bottle of sunscreen. Better safe than sorry, right? She accidentally kicked a bottle of Muscle Rehab Gel under the shelf, and sighed before bending down to grab it. Her hand touched something cold and hard, and she wrapped her hand around the base of it and dragged it out.

Huh. A machete. Katty pulled it out of it's nylon pouch and looked it over. It was probably overall around 15 inches in length, and had a partially-serrated edge to the steel blade. She attached it to a loop of her jeans and figured she'd ask Calum to configure it properly for her later.

At the sound of a muffled yell and scuffling outside, Katty quickly grabbed the rucksack and took off for the entrance. Her heart was racing and she slowed her pace down at what greeted her. One man was wrestling Calum to the ground as the other looked through the bag that he was carrying. Calum's rifle lay uselessly out of reach, and Katty could feel herself panicking.

Their backs were turned on the entrance to the store, so Katty soundlessly picked up her metal bat. Her hands were sweaty as she felt bile rising up in the back of her throat. She had never killed anyone in cold blood before. She would if she had to though. She owed that to Calum.

Katty took a few quick, short steps towards the men and lifted her bat swiftly into the air. Her world went sideways and the air was pulled from her lungs as she was catapulted into the side of the building and a firm body pressed against hers.

"Well, well, well, the fag's got himself a girlfriend. Calm down, Sugar-tits, my friends here are just introducin' themselves. No need ta be violent."

Katty felt her vision blurring as he pressed his forearm into her throat. He, for unknown reasons, released some pressure off of her trachea, and Katty took a deep breath in. Her vision cleared and she stared into the lined, grinning face of the older man. There was three of them, and he had probably been standing off to the side to wait for her to coming running out like an idiot. She resisted the urge to spit in his face and weighed her options quickly.

She could see her bat rolling away, and she couldn't reach her Glock at the front of her pants with him pressed up against her like that. The machete, maybe, if she could reach down without him noticing. Unlikely that that would happen, so –.

Katty quickly cracked her head forward with the intent to break his nose, and the man let out a whoop of laughter as he took a step back. She quickly reached down with her left hand across her body to her right hip and grabbed the handle of the machete. She led with her elbow and attempted to slash at him as she pulled the blade out, before she felt a rough hand enclose around her elbow and shove her to the right. Her hand buckled and slipped off the handle as she bounced painfully off the wall again. He grasped a fistful of her loose hair and shoved her head into the wall. Pain shot through her as the side of her head collided with the concrete, and her vision started to fade.

"Gotta love a feisty bitch." She heard him laugh loudly to himself as the scene before her faded into blackness. The last thing that she remembered seeing was the glint of a blade strapped crudely to the man's stump for a hand.

* * *

Granted, Daryl hadn't called her Sugar-tits, but being pushed against a wall was apparently a common thread. Daryl hadn't been as rough, and had seemed remorseful afterwards, she reminded herself.

Katty quickly finished off her breakfast and left the house again with the purpose of finding Maggie. She strode down to the house that Maggie had pointed out to her on her first day in Alexandria and knocked solidly.

She tried to keep the surprise off her face when a man with a mullet opened the door. He quirked an eyebrow at her as he spooned something from a can into his mouth. They both stared at each other in silence before Katty remembered that she was still required to introduce herself.

"I'm Katty," she offered at the blank look on his face, and he stuck out a hand.

"Eugene. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Katty," he replied and firmly shook her hand when she clasped his. Katty resisted the urge to smile at the Southern accent.

"Ditto. I'm, uh, looking for Maggie?" Was she at the right house? She vaguely remembered Rosita telling her about a member of their group that sported the funny hairdo, and assumed that she was at the correct house.

He blinked at her a few times, before he turned and walked into the house and away from her. Katty snorted at the odd response and decided to follow him into the residence.

This house was gorgeous and well-furnished, which didn't surprise Katty anymore. Cream colored walls complimented the hardwood and beige furniture, and the random dark framed pictures of flowers and other plants. The white kitchen was at the other end of the open room, and Maggie and Glenn were sitting at two of the stools that were against the island.

Eugene walked up to the both of them, and Katty followed a few steps behind. Both of them shot her smiles.

"Maggie, you have a visitor." Eugene supplied and then gave Katty a curt nod before disappearing down the hallway.

Katty stared after him with an amused grin. What a weird guy.

Maggie wiped her hands on her pants and stood up from her seat. "Ready to go, Katty?"

She nodded at her, "I guess. I don't really know what we're doing, though."

"Deanna wants me to introduce you to the different sites around here and have you meet some residents that live here. Then she wants to meet with both of us."

Katty groaned, "Great. Two of my favourite things. Introducing myself and being useless."

"The second of which you're pretty good at," Glenn teased and Katty scowled at him. He seemed to have a death wish, because Glenn just laughed at her expression.

"Stop complaining," Maggie poked her side as she walked by an Katty squeaked. "We're actually going outside the wall for the construction zone."

Her ears perked and the sour expression on Katty's face slipped off. Maggie could sense the question she was going to ask, and nodded. "Yup. We'll go grab some of your weapons if you want."

Katty sent a rude hand motion to Glenn as they left, which he returned happily with a different one of his own. She laughed as Maggie closed the door behind them.

"You and Glenn have the same sense of humour," she commented dryly at Katty as they walked towards the armory.

"You mean an awesome one?"

"I was actually thinking of two other words that started with 'aw'."

Katty nodded in understanding at Maggie, "Awe-inspiring and award winning, right?"

"Close. Awkward and awful."

Katty kicked a rock at her as they approached where the Alexandria armory was located. A woman named Olivia greeted them, and waved them through to grab what they needed.

Katty zeroed in on her trusty machete and her Glock 17. She reached for a few of her other knives, but decided against it. She doubted she would need them as they weren't going very far.

Tara and Rosita were on watch at the wall, and Tara waved them off as she closed the gate behind them.

The walk, though it had been nice to get outside the walls, had been entirely boring. The construction crew had been close by and were gathering materials to improve the wall, which Katty was baffled how it hadn't been taken down by a herd yet. Deanna had mentioned previously that this area of Virginia had been one of the first to be evacuated before the world collapsed, so it was possible that Alexandria had gotten lucky in it's time. When they arrived the construction group had been talking about transporting and piling up mounds of dirt on the inside of the walls to reinforce them better.

Katty kept it to herself, but she had a rude thought that you could tell by looking at the walls that they were designed by an Architect and not an Engineer, as they looked clean and effective from the inside, but were not necessarily designed for function. At least the light plays off the corrugated sheets of metal nicely, she thought sarcastically.

A few members had introduced themselves to Katty and were pleasant, if a bit short with her. Abraham was quite the character, with a stern, drill sergeant face accompanied by red hair. He was loud and bossy and apparently quite in his element. Katty pictured him wearing a Tricorne hat and a white wig, even though the 18th century naval hat wouldn't have made any sense, she felt it would suit him.

"I'm surprised there aren't that many Biters around," Katty commented to Maggie as they made their way back to meet with Deanna.

"They send out people when they can to try and clear the area better, and I think the reduced visibility from the wall helps to not attract them either," Maggie explained, and Katty nodded in understanding. She wondered how long a wall that large had taken to put up. She remembered Aaron describing it to her as huge steel sheets, but it looked more like tin to her. They returned Katty's gun to the armory, but she kept the machete at her hip. She wasn't sure if she was allowed a weapon now, but Maggie just shrugged at her so she decided to keep it.

Deanna greeted them at the door with an inviting smile. "Please, come in. I'll grab some lemonade for you two."

Katty still hadn't gotten use to the fact that Alexandria still had novelties like lemonade or fucking ice cubes, and she stared at her glass oddly before taking a drink.

"So, Katty, what did you think of the construction crew and the wall?" Deanna asked conversationally as they walked downstairs, and she had probably expected Katty to be astonished at the craftsmanship and capabilities of the Alexandrians. Deanna was nothing if not invested in her community.

Katty chewed over her words carefully for a while. She wanted to be honest, without being rude, which was a difficult task for her usually. Being blunt, along with being crass, was what came naturally to her and learning to bite her tongue wasn't an easy feat. But she also wanted to point out some flaws she noticed to give Deanna and the community something to think about.

"I'm not an engineer or anything, but there were some things that concerned me," she eventually replied, and kept her eyes on the glass in her hands as she swirled the contents around.

Deanna's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

Katty lifted her eyes to meet Deanna's and she hoped that what she had to say wouldn't come across as offensive. "I understand that it was probably easier to construct and place the fence with the beams situated outwards, but it really wouldn't do anything to protect against the combined force of a herd. They're talking about piling up dirt, but it might make more sense to slowly start transitioning the support beams on the interior. They look easy to scale as well if they're on the outside."

The other woman's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline, they were raised so high. "Those are all valid points and I appreciate that you have brought them to my attention, Katty. Was there anything else?" Deanna asked calmly.

Katty chewed her lip and wondered if she should shut up. She didn't. "It boggles me why the wall wasn't constructed to include the only watch tower that you have. It leaves room for anyone to see the entirety of Alexandria. The wall should either be changed, or we should work on tearing the tower down."

"The tower didn't have a purpose for us to include it, and materials were too precious to spend building around it. We also try to keep up with the populace of Roamers in the area, and haven't encountered a herd yet."

"It's not only herds that you have to worry about," she muttered, her mind drifting back to the monster that ran Woodbury. Katty didn't comment on the tower, not wanting to argue about it's usefulness. She could see Maggie watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"You sound like Rick; he mentioned using the tower for a watch rotation, too." Deanna commented interestedly.

Why haven't you fucking done that then, she wanted to snap. The structural integrity of Alexandria demonstrated its naivety to her, and she felt her stomach sink at the foreboding feeling.

Deanna was smiling at her, and Katty wanted to leave her presence. Deanna would ultimately do what Deanna thought was best for the community, and Katty knew her opinion didn't count for much.

"See, Katty, you're already invested in this community, in wanting to keep it safe. This means something to you."

She shrugged and remained silent. That wasn't entirely true. How Katty felt was more like being invested, immersed in a fairy tale. She didn't know that much about the residents, but she thought that they were akin to children that needed to be protecting. Why hadn't Deanna organized programs to show the residents what to do in different types of emergencies, where to meet if everything, _when everything_ went to shit? How to defend themselves at the very least. How unprepared they were frightened her and her palms started to sweat.

"Deanna, you mentioned you had some grid plans for us to look over?" Maggie's voice came to Katty's rescue as she reminded Deanna of the original point of them being there.

Deanna's face lit up as she unrolled the large blueprint in front of the three of them on the table. "I've been laying out what the agricultural reserve will eventually look like. This is just a first edition rough draft, but it's exciting. We have the chance to be entirely self-sufficient,"

She had mapped out plots of land around Alexandria that she felt were suitable for assorted gardens. Katty thought that it would be more beneficial to have the gardens closer together, but she understood that they had to work with what Alexandria offered. Katty looked over the writing scrawled around the plots of land, comparing it to the list that she had constructed in her head about the same.

"I think this is a great start," she murmured to herself, running a finger along the handwritten names. "Some of these I was going to suggest to you, actually. Onions have antibacterial, antiparasitic, and antifungal properties, and have been found to contain prostaglandins, oddly enough." She glanced at both of their blank faces. "Prostaglandins are, uh, in most tissues in the body and help with injury and illness." Katty ducked her head back down to the table.

"Garlic is a good idea as well, other than antibacterial properties, it helps with gastrointestinal disorders. Move them next to the tomatoes, though," she commented, moving along and tracing where the fruit was labeled. "Garlic, onions and tomatoes all grow as companions and do well together. It'll save space."

Katty grabbed a pencil off the desk and scrawled tidily in the lower corner. "I'm just writing down Ginger, Nutmeg and Cinnamon. They're less important, but if we end up having space in the off season, all of these can be dried for long term and have antimicrobial effects."

She glanced over to the other two women. Maggie was grinning at her and Deanna had her arms crossed, looking thoughtfully at Katty.

"Sorry," she blurted, feeling uncomfortable. She had definitely overstepped a boundary, and started to chew her lip while she waited to be scolded.

Deanna uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on either of Katty's upper arms. "No, this is wonderful. With you and Maggie together, I think we can make this happen."

They talked for a while longer and Deanna listened patiently while Katty and Maggie discussed the pros and cons about the current layout of the gardens. She nodded along with what they were saying, and Katty, for the first time since she arrived in Alexandria, started to feel valued. Deanna paused their discussion to take Katty's hand in both of hers, and Katty looked at her curiously.

"Katty, I'm so glad that you decided to give Alexandria a chance. _You are so valuable to this community_."

Katty flinched violently away from Deanna as the sentence left her mouth, and Katty tripped back a few steps. The moment played back in front of her eyes, over the confused face of Deanna, and suddenly it wasn't Deanna's voice anymore that was speaking. Her voice had morphed, dropped, adapted and taken on a grating, awful tone. Katty immediately felt the physiological response of anxiety, and everything in her body constricted. Her throat felt tight, constrained – why was it so hard to breathe suddenly? Her vision became a tunnel and her sympathetic nervous system kicked in. Her body chose to flee without her consent and Katty stumbled back and tore up the stairs, out of the house. Katty could vaguely hear mumbled voices calling out to her, but she couldn't stop. She probably looked like a wild animal, but couldn't bring herself to care as the blood rushed around in her ears and her feet wouldn't cooperate and slow down to allow her mind to catch up.

She heard a grunt, and she wasn't sure if it had come from her, as she crashed into someone. Their hands were immediately on her upper arms as they planted her in front of them and said something.

She scrambled, and tried to get away. Her mind was frantic, and she felt their grip tighten on her.

" _You are so valuable to this community."_

"Kat –"

Adrenaline pumped through her all her arteries and veins as Katty's mind finally caught up to register that there was someone in front of her and it wasn't the Governor and that she wasn't in the dark room anymore.

"Kat."

"Kat, _look at me_." They had rasped at her lowly, and Katty snapped her eyes up to the person's face. The blue eyes that greeted her suddenly became her lifeline, and she forced herself not to look away.

"Yer alright, just breathe."

The grip relaxed on her upper arms as she took a few shaky, gasping breaths with some direction from her salvation.

"Yer alright," the gravelly voice repeated to her again, and she finally recognized it.

The blurry mess cleared to form Daryl's face, and Katty worked to steady her breathing more as she raked her eyes over his features, committing them to memory. Her mind was blank, which was probably good as it didn't give her time to feel embarrassed.

Daryl's hand released her arm to slide down to grasp her wrist lightly as he regarded her carefully. "What happened, Kat?" he asked her as he scanned the area around them, and she realized he probably assumed there was a Biter or something equally as awful around.

She finally found her voice, but she was disturbed by how meek she sounded. "Panic attack," she stated quietly, and his eyes snapped back to hers with a confused furrow of his brow. Katty wanted to touch his face, make sure he was real, but she stopped herself. They stood there, watching each other for a while, blue and hazel locked on blue.

"It's nothing," she mumbled at him. He continued to slide his eyes along her face, and didn't say anything.

"Katty? What happened? Is everything okay?" Maggie's anxious voice sounded behind her, and Daryl jumped away from her. He released her wrist like she had burnt him, and Katty glanced at him again before she looked to Maggie.

She cleared her throat and attempted to give it back some of it's strength, though it still wavered. "Sorry. I'm alright."

Maggie approached cautiously and looked at Daryl briefly before she reached out a hand to take Katty's. "I got it from here, thanks Daryl," she said to him with an appreciative smile.

Daryl shrugged and then looked Katty up and down once more before he nodded and slowly walked off.

Maggie, still holding her hand, walked Katty to a tree near the section of water and sat them both down. They were silent for a while as Maggie probably waited for her to explain herself. Katty didn't know how to start, or what she could divulge to her new friend. She appreciated that

Maggie hadn't let go of her hand, though. Katty took a few more minutes before she attempted to vocalize what had happened.

"I'm sure Rick and Michonne filled everyone in that I was at – at Woodbury," she started, and glanced over at Maggie. Maggie hesitated, then nodded. "At first, it was alright, I was assigned to be a guard and I was part of a team, you know? But, after a while, something happened, and how the Governor saw me changed, and he convinced me I had this other purpose for Woodbury," Maggie couldn't take her eyes off Katty as Katty stared off at the water while she explained. The matter-of-fact, uncaring tone that the other girl was using disturbed Maggie, and she felt a chill go up her spine.

"The Governor tried to take what he wanted from me, and he tried in the form of torture, I guess; sharp words and hands and even sharper knives," Katty shut her eyes tightly as she tried to gloss over the details, make her explanation vague and frightening sounding so that Maggie wouldn't ask questions. "I was in the dark for weeks, and every time they would try something, he would tell me how much I meant. How _valuable I was to the community_."

Neither of them spoke for a while, Maggie just stared at her with huge, understanding eyes.

"Did he get what he wanted?" Maggie asked quietly, and Katty tried to keep her expression neutral and unwavering. The other girl had undoubtedly assumed a completely different meaning to Katty's words, a separate, just as horrifying scenario, and Katty felt guilty that she was telling half-truths.

She thought the question over for a minute before answering. "No, he didn't. I don't think he ever would have. So I had to leave."

"The Governor kidnapped myself and Glenn, and tried to get us to reveal the location of our group," Maggie said, and suddenly it was Katty who was staring at her with wide eyes and Maggie who was looking off into the water.

"He tortured us too," she sent Katty a look that was full of fire and anger and everything in between, "He tortured me and Glenn in _very different ways_."

Katty stiffened at the implications of her words, and tightened her grip on Maggie's hand. She felt something bubble up in her throat, and a sob escaped her lips.

Her composure crumbled and broke before her, and Katty cried. She cried for Maggie and Glenn, she cried for herself and for Calum, and she cried for Merle and for Rick's entire group. For every tear that broke from her chin, she pictured a different face that had been broken by the monster of a man. Maggie was crying with her, gasping and hiccoughing and they held each other as their bodies shook.

When it had subsided, Maggie spoke quietly, and told her about Michonne and a woman named Andrea, and how the woman had just wanted everyone to live but had lost her life in the process. Maggie talked about her dad and how she had watched him get slaughtered. They sat there for a few hours, both their voices hoarse from talking and crying, and Katty listened as Maggie retold all the horrors her family had lived through from the Governor and even a few more. She told her how her sister Beth died, ripped away so soon after she had finally found her.

Guilt was weighing in Katty's stomach, and all she had the strength to do was listen. She wanted to tell Maggie more about what had happened to her, what _was_ happening to her, but she couldn't. She couldn't afford to give anymore details away.

Lies are easier when they're camouflaged with vague stories that danced dangerously close to the truth.

Maggie sent her a watery smile when they were done, and Katty laughed inappropriately. Maggie looked like shit, all red faced and runny nosed, and she was sure she did too.

The other woman laughed with her, and then stood up and brushed her pants off. She dragged Katty up with her, and pulled her into a firm hug.

"Let's go clean up and then you're coming to the group dinner with me," Maggie stated, and left no room for argument. Katty, still feeling both guilty and needy for human contact, just nodded at her. They linked arms and walked in the direction of houses.

"So," Maggie started, and Katty could hear the teasing note in her voice that she both loved and hated. People that could still smile after facing so much tragedy were people that the apocalypse needed. "Daryl, huh?"

"Sod off," Katty barked, and then they both erupted in laughter again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, you! This one was hard to write for me! This started off as originally being a filler chapter that contained Daryl and not much else, but it ended up being something else.

So you got a little Daryl, a little Merle, and a little Maggie. I can't wait to give more hints to what happened with Katty at Woodbury and what she's hiding. Keep in mind that she doesn't technically lie, she just skirts details to mislead people. It will piece together eventually.

Please review and let me know if you want me to continue!

-Submechanophobia


	5. Cigarettes

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! Couldn't help it, today was my day off so I wrote another one super quick. This is shorter and lighter, and essentially filler. But it was fun. Hope you enjoy!**

 **I didn't really give a lot of time in between for people to review, but thanks to** **TheHungryRainbow** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **JenTen** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **Guest34** **, and** **Javi** **for reviewing! And thanks to everyone who added this story to their favourites or alert list!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Cigarettes

When Katty left the bathroom, Maggie and Glenn were huddled together, talking in excited, hushed voices. She cleared her throat and they jumped. Glenn quickly shoved something behind his back, and they both topped it off with matching innocent smiles. Not suspicious at all.

Katty rolled her eyes, "Whatcha chaps got there?"

Maggie waved her hand at her dismissively, "Nothin', really. It's actually pretty boring, right Glenn?" she nudged him.

Glenn had been looking at Katty strangely, and stuttered out a, "Yeah, boring," when his wife elbowed him again.

Katty shrugged, and chalked Glenn's odd look at because 15 minutes' prior, Maggie and Katty had come to the door covered in grass, dirt, faces stained with tears, and bearing linked arms. It took a while to convince Glenn that nothing major had happened, but his worried looks had finally dulled.

Especially when Katty had supplied the faithful answer, 'PMS', for some read he decided to drop the subject.

So Katty ignored their secretive behavior, because now she had butterflies about having dinner with the majority of their group.

"Who's going to be there again?" she asked nervously as she fiddled with her hair. It had always kinked weirdly on the right side and Katty noticed blandly that not even the world ending had changed that.

"Us, Rick, Carl, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, Rosita, Tara," Glenn counted off on his fingers for her.

Katty groaned, "Glenn, that's like your entire group. You guys said it wasn't huge."

"No it's not," he protested, "Noah is working with Reg for the evening, Eugene said he was going to go over some blueprints or whatever he does here, Sasha is on watch and Gabriel usually keeps to himself these days."

"So it's twelve of us when you count Judith. How do you think that isn't huge?"

"Shut up, Katty, you've met everyone except for Carl that's goin' to be there. It won't be weird," Maggie chastised and handed her a jacket. "Let's go over now. Glenn, bring that thing."

Katty tried to turn to look at what Maggie was referring to, but Maggie put a hand to her shoulder and guided her out the door before she could.

"Guys, they don't even know I'm coming, It's going to be weird and I'm going to be a burden, how about I go home and if there's enough food and if they all say sure you can give me a signal like turn a flashlight on and off at my window and I'll –"

Glenn and Maggie were apparently very effective in ignoring Katty, and knocked on the door loudly. Katty wished that the two houses hadn't been next door to each other so that she would have had more time to figure out a way to bail, as bad as that sounded.

Carol swung open the door with a smile directed at them all.

"Hi Carol, Katty is coming to dinner," Katty scowled at Glenn as he and Maggie walked by and into the house. He was supposed to _ask_ , not _tell_.

"Oh, sure, there's lots. Come on in, Katty," Katty realized that she was standing dumbly on the veranda, and scuttled in at Carol's hand that beckoned her inside.

The group was in various sorts around the house, which Katty appreciated. She had figured that everyone was going to be sitting around the table like in The Godfather, so this was less intimidating. Maggie and Glenn immediately had situated themselves in the kitchen, where Carol had subsequently joined to finish up cooking.

Rosita, Tara and Abraham were on the couch in the living area, and seemed to be catching up, talking about their days. The three of them greeted Katty, with Tara sending her a wink that made her crack up. Michonne and who she assumed was Carl were standing off to the side, talking animatedly and flicking a ball back and forth between them on the table. At the other end of the table was Rick and Daryl, and Katty felt her stomach and her jaw drop.

Daryl was holding Judith and was bouncing her slightly on his knee. He was alternating between talking with Rick and cooing and talking quietly to Judith, who kept emitting happy giggles.

Katty attempted to pick her jaw off the hardwood floor as she danced her eyes around the room quickly. No one even seemed to notice that Daryl was _playing with a baby_. Was that not out of character for the grouchy redneck?

Rick glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, "Katty, come over here."

The group seemed to be directing her around a lot, and Katty tried not to let it bother her. Rick seemed much more welcoming that the last interaction she had with him, and she didn't want to fuck it up. She walked over and tried not to stare at Daryl, who seemed to be immersed in making Judith fly randomly off his lap.

Fuck me, she thought. He's good with kids. Katty could feel her ovaries screaming at her. What was it about guys that were good with children that turned her on so much? It was probably some cave-woman thing, right?

Rick was staring at her with an amused look on his lightly scruffed face, and Katty finally realized he had said something.

"Wot?" she squawked as she tore her eyes away from Daryl. She heard a snicker that could only belong to Michonne behind her and she glanced over at her. Michonne and Carl were staring at her too. Oh great.

Katty felt her cheeks burn as Rick let out a short laugh. "I asked you how it's been here so far."

"I haven't really talked to that many people other than this group, really," Katty admitted. "It's been okay so far; I just feel kinda useless." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear sheepishly.

"She's bein' modest," Maggie called from her seat at the kitchen island. "She's been really useful with the plans for growin' our own food."

"I'd like to be added to the watch rotation," Katty said, addressing Rick. He raised his eyebrows at her. "And I wanted to talk to you about going out on a run with Tara and Glenn. Just to mark down in the surrounding area where useful foliage is."

"We're all going out tomorrow," Tara piped in. "To look for any Walkers in the area, so it'd make sense to have her come."

Rick eyed Katty for a while, and she felt the need to meet his eye contact levelly. He had a stare about him that made it seem as though he could read your character instantly. "I don't see a problem with it," Rick said eventually, and Katty let out a relieved breath. He glanced between Glenn and Tara. "Neither of you think that Aiden would care about having another person there?"

Glenn snorted and shook his head, "I heard him telling Nicholas the other day how hot he finds Katty. So I doubt he'll mind,"

Katty pulled a displeased face, and she heard a loud laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Daryl scowl towards the floor, but she decided to ignore it for the time being.

Abraham had been the one to laugh. "Not a fan?"

Katty nodded at Rosita and Tara, "Not from what these two lovelies have said about him." The two girls smiled at Katty in return.

Abraham grinned, "Well, if the dickhead gives you any trouble, let me know."

Katty saluted him, "Aye aye, captain." He looked amused at her odd, mixed up gesture. Shortly after, Carol started to corral them towards the dining room table. Carl and Glenn sat on either side of her, with Daryl across the table from Katty.

Quickly, she turned to Carl, who smiled politely at her. "Sorry, I meant to introduce myself earlier, but I forgot. I'm Katty, you're Carl right?"

He looked somewhat surprised that Katty knew who he was already, but stuck out his hand to her anyways. "Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you."

She thought that though he was obviously young, barely a teenage, he had far more life experience than any of the residents she had met so far. It was odd, and sad, to see an example of a childhood ripped away far too early. Katty smiled at him anyways, before turning towards her plate.

Carol had made an assortment of rice, canned or frozen vegetables, and canned meat that Katty wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it tasted good. The conversation flowed easily, and Katty was glad that she had been wrong about her presence being unwelcome. Rick's group was anything but unwelcoming, now that she had hopefully demonstrated that she wasn't a threat.

"So, Katty," Carol started and she glanced up. The group hadn't asked her that many questions, and she had been waiting for the onslaught. "How did you end up in Virginia?"

They all looked towards her, and she blushed at the unwanted attention. "I moved to the states with my parents when I was younger. We actually moved around a lot, but when my parents got divorced me and my dad stayed in California for a while, which is where I lived before all this."

Rosita looked confused, "How did you end up over here then?"

Katty cleared her throat before she continued, "My dad moved out to Florida when I got older, so I was on a plane with my boyfriend to go see him. We were flying when everything started, and the plane got delayed to Atlanta. Met some people, and what, two years later, here I am," she shrugged at the conclusion of her boring story.

"Where's the boyfriend now?" Carol asked interestedly, and she could feel Daryl staring at her again.

She looked down at her plate and pushed some rice around. "Dead. Some of us got bit a week or two into it."

A few of them stated their condolences and she shrugged, trying not to remember his face when he had begged her to shoot him. "People die, it's what happens." Or that's what she kept telling herself. Katty was unsure if she, even now, could get that fact through her head.

Katty glanced up and met Daryl's blue eyes for a few seconds, before he looked away. What was with him tonight? Doesn't say a word to her, but he certainly had no problems watching her.

"I lost my girlfriend a while ago, too," Tara offered empathically, and Katty nodded at her.

Katty felt that the tone of their conversation was entirely too morbid, and it was making her uncomfortable. So what did Katty do when she felt uncomfortable? She said or did socially unacceptable things.

"So, Tara," She drawled out, and raised her glass of water to her lips to take a sip. Tara looked up at her, so she paused. "Do you think women can tell when you hit on them?"

Abraham snorted into his food, and Tara threw her a grin. Maggie gave her a look that said 'Really', so Katty quickly started to drink from her glass to avoid the brunette's expression.

"That depends; can you tell when I hit on you?"

Katty's response was instantaneous, and she inhaled her water as she tried to laugh, and immediately choked on it. She pushed her chair out a couple feet while she sprayed it all over herself and Glenn, who didn't look as amused as the rest of the group.

Everyone else erupted into laughter as Katty threw herself away from the table, hacking and coughing. She quickly shuffled around the island to the sink and started coughing into it. Maggie was beside her a few seconds later, who apparently was her only friend.

"You got my jacket all wet," Maggie scolded in between laughter, and Katty looked up and scowled at her. Nevermind. She had no friends.

"There's so much water in my lungs," she groaned in between coughs. She heard Tara crack up again and she looked over at her, "Yeah, keep laughing. Just wait 'til I get aspiration pneumonia or something."

Beside Tara, Daryl was smirking at Katty and she immediately felt her cheeks heat up.

"You deserved that," Rick said with a laugh.

Katty went back to sit down, though everyone was mostly done eating, and felt something thump against her head. Maggie had roughly chucked a dishtowel at her, and she frowned at her briefly before turning to Glenn.

"Does she hurt you too, Glenn?" Katty asked while she attempted to keep a straight face.

He cracked a smile at her, before he saw Maggie's unamused face and cleared his throat. "Nope, she's lovely, would never hurt me."

Katty bit the inside of her cheek as she continued, "Glenn, this is a safe place, you can be honest here." Glenn and a few other people laughed as Maggie chucked her spoon at Katty.

"Oi," she grouched at her, and turned to place a hand on Carl's shoulder. "You're setting a bad example, right Rick?"

Rick shook his head with a grin, "I'm not worried that he'll start throwing cutlery at people, don't worry, Katty."

Michonne snorted, "Speak for yourself, Rick." Carl grinned at her, and Katty thought their relationship was needed in the boy's life. Michonne seemed to be able to make Carl laugh without trying.

"So, Katty," Maggie started, and Katty somehow knew that this wouldn't be good. "Earlier this mornin', me and Glenn found somethin' interestin'."

Katty cut her off. "That would be called a penis, Maggie," she drawled at her with her chin resting in her palm.

She was pretty sure even Daryl snorted a laugh at that as Maggie and Glenn blushed.

"Hey," Rick mock frowned at her over his glass of wine, "Now who's being a bad influence."

Katty picked up her wine glass as well, which had suddenly appeared after her coughing fit at the sink. "Really, Rick," she quirked an eyebrow at him and turned to Carl. "Carl, did you know the word penis before I said it just now?"

She watched as Carl turned red, and it was probably from a combination of laughing and embarrassment. "Yes," he finally said between laughs.

She tipped her wine glass at Rick and he laughed and shook his head again. Judith started to fuss, so he looked to Carl again, "Wanna go put Judith to bed, Carl? The monitor is on the counter over there."

Carl nodded at his dad and then slipped from the table to grab Judith. Katty waved sadly at the baby at the two siblings departed up the stairs. She could feel Maggie burning holes into her head, so she turned back to her with an innocent look. "You were saying, Mags?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I was going to save this for later, but embarrassing you now sounds good," she nodded her head in the affirmative, and Katty raised her eyebrows and took another drink of wine.

Rosé wine had been her favourite before the end of the word, but she didn't seem so picky anymore as she sipped the sweet white wine. She also noticed that her alcohol tolerance had gone done, as she was feeling a tad buzzy.

"Me and Glenn were going through the closet this mornin', and found a pretty interesting catalogue. You know those ones that comes with your purchase when you order online?" Maggie asked innocently, and Katty felt the colour drain from her face. Maggie had paused to stare pointedly at her and Katty quickly downed the rest of her wine.

"Maggie, Glenn, have I ever told you how beautiful and kind you both are and how much I cherish your friendship?" she asked as Carol reached over to refill her glass. Katty smiled at her briefly in thanks.

Glenn snorted, "No, somehow you forgot to mention that," he mumbled as he got up to go to his jacket that was hung up.

Katty took another quick sip – it was more a chug – of wine and then stood up. "It's getting late; I should probably rest up for –"

Maggie grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into her chair with a grin, "Sorry, Katty, this is too good to pass up," she laughed.

She cringed as Glenn dropped a thin stack of bound paper in front of her. She knew exactly what it was, and put a hand over her face in embarrassment as the group figured out who the front cover was of.

It was the printout that Victoria's Secret sent out with all online swimwear purchases, introducing her as their newest model. She was in a simple, black, string bikini and the string that went around the ribcage to her back was undone. Katty had her wavy hair half in her face as she held the untied ends of the bikini so her breasts were still fully covered. 'Meet Katty Harvey' was in cursive under the bolded title of the company. She had seen in many times, and a few of her friends in California had framed it as a joke, since she wasn't thrilled about it.

Most of the group remained silent in shock, before Michonne snatched the paper in front of Katty and Tara guffawed loudly.

"Katty, you're a babe!"

"Maggie, Glenn, I hate you," she groaned and kept drinking her glass of wine, like it would save her from this moment. She was sure her face was entirely pink, from a combination of alcohol and embarrassment, and focussed on her wine as the group passed the cover around.

She knew it was all in jest, so Katty wasn't entirely upset. It wasn't that surprising either that it had surfaced in Alexandria; the people that lived here obviously had money and Victoria's Secret swimwear was pretty popular.

Everyone poked at her for a while, and Katty tried to avoid Daryl's burning gaze over his own glass of whatever kind of alcohol he had. She felt herself squirming under his intense stare, and clenched her legs together. Two glasses of wine _had not_ been a good idea, apparently.

Katty helped Carol clear the table as everyone either dispersed or went into other conversations, and Carol asked her why she hadn't mentioned the modelling to anyone before.

She snorted, "Oh please. College drop out, waitress _and_ swimsuit model? I didn't want you lot to think I was completely incompetent."

Carol shook her head with a smile. "No one thinks that, don't worry." Katty wondered if Daryl thought that and that's why he was staring at her. Damnit.

She finished helping Carol wash and dry the dishes, and then glanced at the table as she passed. The photo was gone. She shrugged, unconcerned in her tipsy state as to where it went.

"I'm going to nip out for some air," she called over her shoulder as she made her way to the covered porch outside.

She tripped out the door, and Daryl glanced over to her from his standing spot against the railing. He looked amused, so Katty made her way to stand next to him. They were silent for a while as Daryl smoked, and Katty watched, interested, as the tendrils of smoke twisted up into the air.

"Thanks for earlier," she murmured and knocked her shoulder gently into his. He stiffened at the contact before he looked sideways at her.

"What happened?" his low voice asked curiously, and it sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine in her intoxicated state. God, he was sexy.

"Just some bad memories that got brought up accidently, and I freaked out like an idiot," she said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.

Daryl just nodded slightly, and she guessed that he either understood what she meant or wasn't interested enough to press the subject. Questions didn't seem to really be his style.

She tingled enjoyably as she stood beside him, leant against the rail. He smelled like an unorthodox cocktail of cigarette smoke, something woodsy, and another unnameable musky smell that was entirely masculine. She squirmed a bit more and tried to focus on anything else.

The breath of smoke that escaped him caught her attention, and she stared at him some more.

"Can you do any smoke tricks?" Katty asked curiously.

He snorted and then took another puff of the cigarette, paused for a moment, and then breathed out a smoke ring. Katty did a shitty golf clap in return, which earned her another amused look. Alcohol made him lighten up a bit, she observed.

"I always wanted to smoke, growing up," she commented offhandedly as she watched him. "My dad always did his best to scare me off it."

"He was right to. Bad for ya," Daryl replied back, and Katty rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Daddy," she sarcastically drawled at him, and he immediately stiffened up and shifted awkwardly on the spot. Katty bit back an uncomfortable, drunk laugh. I am such an idiot, she thought to herself. Poor Daryl.

She glanced his way and saw his half smoked smoke between his fingers as he looked at anything but her. Katty shrugged to herself, reached out and took it from his hand, and his eyes snapped back to her. Katty made sure he didn't look furious before she took the smallest drag possible off of the cigarette, so she didn't cough.

Daryl rolled his eyes at her, "Doesn't count," he stated.

Katty tried to hand it back to him. "Does too," she countered and ignored how immature she sounded.

He waved at her outreached hand, "Take another."

She frowned at him and raised it to her lips. Katty was going to take another tiny breath, just a bit bigger than the last, when she felt Daryl pinch her side. She immediately inhaled larger than she intended, and her eyes started to water at the intrusion to her normal breathing. Katty attempted to hold in her cough, but she lost the war and started to hack beside him.

She scowled at the satisfied smirk on his face and thrust the cigarette back towards Daryl. He took it gingerly from her and snorted when she called him an 'arsehole' under her breath.

Katty watched out of the corner of her eye for Daryl to take another drag, and her hand flashed out to poke him in the side. He seemed to expect it since Daryl didn't jump or react in a similar manner.

He merely turned towards her and leaned in slightly. Katty thought she stopped breathing, and her heart sped up, before he breathed out a cloud smoke into her face and leaned away. Katty made a displeased noise and waved the cloud away.

"You're not taking my cigarette virginity very gently, Daryl," she cheeked, and he spluttered for a moment around the next breath in. She laughed, satisfied in his response.

Daryl shook his head, astonished, "Ya had too much wine, Kat."

She bit her lip and watched him for a second. Katty wanted to comment on the fact that he gave her a nickname, but she didn't want to scare him off.

"Yup," she popped the 'P' sound in the word. "So you should probably walk me home so I don't get lost or something," the reason sounded lame, even to her tipsy mind, but she stared at him for his response anyways. Too much wine to be ashamed, luckily.

He hesitated for a moment, but then shrugged. "C'mon, then."

Katty grinned at him, and quickly hopped inside the house for a second. "I'm going, bye everyone. Glenn, Tara, I'll see you tomorrow," she waited for the majority of them to messily bid her goodnight, and then went back to the man that was waiting for her outside. Daryl was already at the bottom of the steps, and Katty hurried to catch up. However, her feet didn't cooperate fully and she stumbled down the last two. Thank god Daryl had quick reflexes, or she would have taken them both down.

He merely grunted as he caught her by her upper arms and righted her posture. "Clumsy," he scolded.

"Drunk," she reminded, and he scoffed in response.

The walk was entirely silent as they slowly made their way the short distance to their destination. She would also take all the credit for their pace, however. Katty was slow because she was focussed on putting one foot in front of the other, and Daryl was probably slow to make sure she didn't fall to her death again.

They eventually made it to her house, and Katty noticed Daryl walked behind her up the steps of the porch. She knew it was because he didn't trust her feet right now, but she could resist calling over her shoulder, "Stop staring at my arse, Daryl,". He didn't respond, but Katty didn't notice over her cackles.

Katty finally clasped the door knob in her hand, and flicked the light on once she got inside. Daryl waited outside and remained silent. Katty thought his face looked slightly flushed in the light, and she wondered how much he had to drink.

She smiled at him, "Daryl, you look drunk. I should probably walk you home."

He looked at her like she had suddenly grown another head. Daryl just shook his head with a scoff, "'M not drunk. Go ta bed, Kat."

She grinned at his retreating figure down the steps of the porch and waited for him to get some distance away before Katty called out to him again.

* * *

"Daryl?"

Daryl turned halfway around, entirely bewildered with the intoxicated female. What did she want now? He didn't say anything, just shot her a look over his shoulder.

"Thanks again," Kat said in a softer voice. "For today. And stuff," she finished lamely. Daryl just nodded at her and she shut the door.

He sauntered back to the main house, slowly as he contemplated what he thought about Kat. She was socially awkward at times, obnoxious at others, inappropriate, and made him nervous. On the other hand, she had easily wormed her way into the hearts of his family, and he wondered if her spark of humour and hope was what they needed. He scowled as a smaller voice echoed back at him, _what you need_. Daryl also realized that it wasn't entirely unpleasant when she had shown him appreciation a few times that night. He chewed his thumb as he mulled it over.

She was young in some ways, he thought. Blonde hair briefly flashed in his vision as he recalled the last time a younger, hopeful girl had been in his presence. Daryl frowned at the comparison. It wasn't her, he reminded himself, and tried to distract his mind from the impending guilt.

Daryl inwardly cringed when he remembered the awkward comments Kat had made. First, calling him 'daddy', even if it was a joke, comments about virginity, and then she had unknowingly called him out for staring at her ass. It was definitely the alcohol talking, but all three scenarios had made his blood rush downwards.

He shoved his hands into the pocket of his vest, and remembered that he had pocketed the picture of her. Daryl chewed the inside of his cheek and scolded himself for being creepy.

Of course she was a fuckin' model, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Just another reason on the list of why she was out of his league. It pissed him off when he heard what the dickless younger son of Deanna thought about Kat. He could feel himself getting angry again as he practically stomped up the steps of the main house and opened the door roughly.

Daryl paused when he found Rick and Carol sitting at the island in the kitchen, staring at him with matching amused looks.

He frowned at them both, "What?"

"Katty get home alright?" Carol asked innocently. Too innocently. "She was pretty tipsy."

Daryl narrowed his eyes as Rick's grin got wider. "She's fine," he grumbled as he attempted to walk past them both and head to his bed.

"Nice of you to walk her home," Rick commented, and Daryl stopped walking to frown at him. Rick had his eyebrows raised and Daryl could tell that he was trying to keep a straight face, and he didn't like it.

He didn't dignify that with a response past a grunt as he tromped past them. Daryl's scowl deepened when he heard them both chuckling to each other. Drunk idiots, he thought.

Daryl flopped down on his bed, unceremoniously and ungracefully. He pulled the photo out of his pocket and glanced at it again before shoving it in the bottom drawer of his bedside table. He wasn't sure why he kept it, he just wanted to. It was a small memento, a token that depicted what she had been like before. She had been a healthier weight before, her hips wider and her breasts bigger. She looked more feminine, younger and less worn than she appeared to him now. It was a strange sight, so he felt inclined to keep the picture of her.

Daryl closed his eyes and then rubbed at them roughly. It didn't help that when he shut out the world, he could still picture the full lips and weird eyes staring at him like in that photo.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, you! I couldn't help myself, this chapter was originally going to be the run with Aiden and everyone, but I got carried away. That will have to wait for the next chapter. I hope you didn't mind the filler, I like having the odd chapter that develops relationships.

Next chapter will be a bit more serious, and with her conversation with Maggie last chapter, I felt it was alright to break up the two.

Hope you enjoyed itttt. I'll try to get the next one up by this weekend sometime, but reviews might help me write faster. ;)

-Submechanophobia


	6. Wild

Heterochromia Iridum

 **As promised, here's the next chapter. Bit of conflict, bit more Daryl POV. Enjoy!**

 **I'm surprised and happy at the number of people that have added this to their alert list, thank you! It's amazing to see that people still take the time to review as well, so thank you to** **addicted2memories** **,** **Guest34** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **Lorento** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Javi** **, and** **JenTen** **for the support.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Wild

The first thing that registered in Katty's hazy mind was how dehydrated she felt. The second was the fact that she was still wearing that exact same clothes as she did yesterday, and that it felt gross. She was stale, uncomfortable, and sweaty; falling asleep with a bra on was a feeling that she had forgotten quickly how much she hated it in her short time at Alexandria.

She scrunched her eyes tighter together, trying to recall what woke her up. Katty pulled the blanket up and over her head when she realized that there was a female voice calling her name. It sounded vaguely like Tara, and Katty decided to play dead, which was how she felt, and pretend that she didn't hear the other woman.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," a grating, singsong voice followed the sound of Katty's door swinging open. Footsteps clunked lazily against the hardwood and Katty quickly tangled her feet around the sheets and blanket to prevent Tara from pulling them off her.

Tara laughed, "Come on. Glenn and Noah are waiting downstairs."

Katty groaned and rolled over, only to have her stomach drop as bed suddenly disappeared. She didn't have to wait long, for the hardwood floor quickly replaced the bed as she crumpled uncomfortably on the ground. Katty didn't move, she just accepted her fate and laid there for a few moments.

A loud snort emitted from the other girl and then the sound of a shutter clicking made Katty swivel and sort her body upwards. Poking her head out, she found Tara standing there waving a polaroid photo with an amused smirk on her face.

"I'm surprised and a little disappointed that you don't sleep naked."

Katty rolled her eyes at Tara, "Waving polaroids doesn't help them develop, you know. It can wreck the modern ones."

Tara ignored her, but stopped shaking the photo anyways. "You should have seen your legs in the air," she laughed. "Get up, or we'll be forced to leave without you." Tara placed a glass of water beside her and then left to presumably go wait downstairs.

Katty reached over and chugged the entire glass quickly, before she groaned, stretched, and finally forced herself to get up. She didn't really get hung over in the sense of headaches or stomach problems. Katty would just feel dirty and thirsty.

A shower probably would have been nice, but she decided to skip it as she would definitely need another one by the end of the day. It could wait. She merely changed her shirt into a tighter vest top so it wouldn't get caught on anything, and put the cargo jacket that was borrowed from Maggie back on.

Walking downstairs, the other three people stared at her expectantly as she ducked them all to fill up her glass again with water and grab a granola bar off the counter.

"Katty, this is Noah," Glenn pointed at the other face that she didn't recognize. Noah was tall and had a young face, and he offered her a smile as she continued to shove the granola bar into her mouth.

"Rough night?" He asked curiously after he looked her over. She chewed thoughtfully at the question. Did she really look that bad?

She shrugged, but Glenn snorted and decided to answer for her. "Rough as in she spent most of the night with Daryl."

Katty immediately blanched and started to choke on her mouthful of food. Right. That had happened. She cringed as she remembered some of her choice words for the other man. 'Daddy' popped into her head, and Katty winced again. He probably thought she was a moron.

"Did not," she frowned at Glenn. Only thing left to do was deny it.

"So what did you two do exactly after you left together?" Tara asked with a suggestive bounce of her dark eyebrows.

"Nothing!" She denied fervently, "I asked him to walk me home so I wouldn't get lost."

Noah snorted, "You realize this house is like across and down three right from theirs right?" Noah was looking at her with a cocked brow. She shot him a reproachful look, not impressed that the new face had decided to join in with their appreciation of mocking her.

"Shut it, all of you," Katty grumbled and hoped that her face wasn't turning pink. She quickly grabbed the map of the area that Deanna had given her the previous day, and packed a few necessities into a rucksack to take. Food, water, a few first aid items; they weren't going very far but you never knew what would happen.

They left shortly after that, and stopped by the armory to grab weapons before they met Aiden and Nicholas at the main gate. Katty had grabbed her Glock 17 and the remainder of her knives that had been kept in the storage locker. She was surprised at the weight that the combined weapons had put on her body, and Katty realized that she had missed carrying them on her person. She instantly felt safer and more confident in the town that was still overall foreign to her.

The other three people that she was with tensed as they approached who she assumed was Aiden and Nicholas waiting at the gate. The latter two were both tall, with brown hair and matching annoyed expressions.

"Took look enough," The one chastised, and Katty squinted at him, trying to remember his face. He looked towards her, and a grin slid on his face. "Well, hello, gorgeous."

Her face dropped into a disdainful expression of recognition. Right, she thought. She had already seen him once before, on her first day here.

"Katty is coming with us today. Rick cleared it," Tara said, and Katty thought her tone sounded challenging.

Nicholas appeared to take the bait, for he immediately snapped back at Tara, "Rick doesn't choose who comes on runs. Aiden does."

Katty let out a puff of air and waited for the confrontation. Aiden, however, clapped a hand on Nicholas's shoulder while he maintained his appreciative gaze on Katty.

"It's fine with me," Aiden said slowly as he raked his eyes down her body. Katty stiffened and tried not to react. The last thing that they needed was to explain to Deanna why Aiden had been accidently stabbed.

"Good," Glenn commented easily and side stepped so he partially covered Katty from Aiden's view. He too had noticed the unwanted looks from Aiden, which Katty was thankful for. Another part of her wanted to roll her eyes; she didn't need to be protected from this tosser. "So you two can patrol the east side, and we'll split up into teams of two and divide the West. Katty is mapping herbs, so she might take longer," he finished conclusively.

"You didn't let me finish," Aiden scowled at Glenn, and Katty remembered the physical altercation between the two that Tara had mentioned a few days ago. "It's fine with me, as long as she comes with me."

"Fuck that," Tara exclaimed with a dismissive shake of her head, "Katty stays with us."

Katty felt herself twitch in annoyance as they talked about her like she wasn't there. She glanced around at the tense figures and observed the dynamic of the two clashing groups of people. This wasn't going to end well, Katty decided in that moment. She'd have to think of something.

"I know the area better than all of you combined," Aiden argued. "I'll help her mark whatever shit she wants, and get it done faster than any of you. She'll be safe with me."

Glenn scoffed and moved further in front of Katty, "Safe? Like how Tara was safe when you two almost –"

"Oh shut it, all of you," Katty groaned and rubbed her temples. Hang overs didn't give her headaches, but this lot definitely was. Every face that turned to her looked annoyed, except Noah's, who looked more curious what she was going to say.

"Glenn, Tara and Nicholas take the East side. Me, Aiden, Noah will look through the West," she said. "Teams of three statistically do better than twos and now we're mixed up so no one can bitch." Glenn and Aiden both looked like they wanted to protest, but Katty scowled at them in return. "This is the only way I see this working out. Take it or I'm going out on my own. I'm too hung over to deal with this testosterone battle."

She had mulled over the combination of personalities while they were arguing over her. Aiden seemed arrogant and demanding enough to not give in to her going with the other three, as much as she would have preferred it. She wouldn't let herself be alone with Aiden or with Aiden and Nicholas, so they had to be split up. Glenn and Tara would both clash badly with Aiden, and someone would end up hurt. Katty glanced at Noah and hoped that he was as reliable as Glenn and Tara thought he was. She'd be fucked it he wasn't. Glenn and Tara would have to deal with Nicholas, who, with any luck, was less of an asshole when Aiden wasn't around.

Glenn sent a threatening look towards both Aiden and Nicholas before he eventually nodded at Katty. Aiden looked smug, and she frowned at him. Maybe she had made a mistake.

"Fine with me," Aiden said and shrugged at Nicholas. Nicholas looked less than thrilled about spending the afternoon with Tara and Glenn, but he wasn't about to argue with Aiden. "C'mon, let's get the gate open," Aiden ordered, and they both walked away a short distance.

Tara promptly grabbed Katty's face with both of hers and smushed her face towards hers, a serious expression in place. "Don't do anything stupid. If he acts like an idiot, don't try to be a hero," she said sternly, and Katty nodded slightly against the pressure of her hands.

"You guys too. Don't get killed," Noah skimmed his eyes along the faces of his two family members, and Glenn nodded tersely back.

"Hurry up," Aiden snapped at them, and Katty paced herself beside Noah as they approached the open gate. The two teams agreed to meet back in four hours just off the main road, and they, reluctantly, went their separate ways.

It was silent between the three of them for a length of time as they walked through the foliage. Katty was surprised that Noah, though he walked with a noticeable limp, could easily keep up with their pace. He wasn't as silent as she was, but definitely quieter than Aiden as he tromped through the brush and stepped on anything in his path. Katty wondered if that was a metaphor for his life.

Aiden had attempted conversation with Katty multiple times in the time that they walked, and Katty had successfully ignored all of his comments. She didn't want to allow him to affect her, rile her up. It would make her careless and angry, two traits that couldn't be afforded in the apocalypse.

She wasn't the only one to notice how loud he was being, as Katty's nose twitched and she stopped her progression forward. She always smelled them first, before she saw them. Almost two years into the apocalypse, it was apparent that the dead had reached a new level of decay.

She whistled twice shortly, and the two other men stopped at her obvious signal. They didn't discuss it before hand, but it wouldn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

The Biter turned its head towards them, and Katty studied it with a wrinkled nose. Its head was twisted on its neck at an odd angle, the jaw half unhinged. The sunken, unseeing eyes fell unto Aiden, who was the closest to it, and the Biter started dragging its feet through the leaves and towards him. It was slow as it stumbled, having picked up the scent of the living.

Aiden turned his head quickly towards Katty, "I'll take care of it," he stated as he squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest. "Watch this."

Katty and Noah shared unimpressed looks as Aiden quickly strode forward and pulled out his knife. Noah, seemingly unconcerned, merely crossed his arms and watched disinterestedly. Katty slipped her hand onto the holster of throwing knives that was wrapped around her left thigh. The short, black knives fit nicely into the cover that she had found in the Alexandria armory, and Katty was pleased that it was much more accessible for her than the pouch that she had previously crammed them into.

Aiden shoved the Biter around a few times, and Katty narrowed her eyes. This wasn't a fucking game.

"C'mon!" He grunted at it as the Biter snapped its lopsided jaw at him and stumbled quicker towards him. The noises that they made always made Katty's gut clench uncomfortably.

Aiden finally decided to put an end to his taunting, and jammed the knife into the front of the Biter's skull. The Biter slumped backwards, and Aiden lost his grip on the knife as the decayed body fell to the forest floor. More shuffling and hissing sounded, and Katty jerked her attention to the right of Aiden. Another Biter was headed towards the reckless male, and it was in a better state than the previous one. Accompanied by a limp, it ambled excitedly as growling rasps emitted from its mouth. Something dark and gooey dripped from the Biter's mouth, and Katty cringed. Gross.

"Aiden," she called warningly as he merely glanced over his shoulder quickly at the Biter and then bent down to grab his knife.

"I got it, babe," he grunted and she scowled and wrapped her hand around the handle of one of the knives at her leg as he fought to get the knife out of the cranial plate. Aiden finally straightened up with the blade in his hand and resumed the shoving game with the other undead figure. A rough shove sent it careening back, but the Biter was like a pendulum and fell into Aiden, shoving him back into the tree behind him.

When Aiden let out a laugh, Katty felt herself getting angry. How many people had she seen, how many countless lives had been taken away from these things, families torn apart, and this _fucking child_ still treated it like it's a big joke that he's in on?

"Stop fucking around," Katty snapped. "Kill it."

"We should tie this one up to kill it before our next run. He's a fun son of a bitch," Aiden laughed and twisted his head towards Katty to make sure she was watching.

Her jaw tensed as she clenched her teeth together, and Katty quickly ripped a knife from the holster. They were handle heavy and designed specifically to not spin as the user threw them at targets. She found that this was the best design when targeting Biters. Katty barely aimed as the muscle memory took over as she stepped forward with her left foot to drive it forward and released the knife.

 _Thwump._

The knife had been virtually silent until it made impact, and it took Aiden a second to realize that the Biter was dead. He looked at the Biter, a confused expression on his face as he finally noticed the black handle sticking out of the left side of the skull.

Noah let out a low whistle, "Nice throw," he commented, sounding impressed.

Katty didn't look at him, she was focussed on scowling at Aiden. "Thanks," she muttered as she strode forward to grab her knife from the soft scull. Aiden beat her to it and ripped it from the Biter's head, an angry look on his face as he thrust the knife at her.

"I had it under control," he snapped, fixing her with a glare. "It was mine."

She grabbed it from him and wiped it on her pants before sliding the knife back into her holster. "They aren't pets, they aren't yours, and this isn't a game," she hissed at him with narrowed eyes.

He scowled at her for a minute longer before it morphed into a cocky smirk. "You were worried about me," he noted confidently.

"Yeah," she snapped. "Worried I'd have to tell Deanna how her fucking lunatic of a son got himself killed."

"You don't have to worry about me, baby. I can take care of myself," he purred at her and reached out a had towards Katty.

Katty took a step away from him and resisted slapping the shit eating grin off his face. "My name is _Katty_ , not baby, not babe. Katty." Aiden opened his mouth to add something to their lovely conversation, but Katty cut him off. "I don't have the patience to deal with you. Just shut up and do your job, and let me do mine."

She immediately stalked away from him and towards Noah, who looked equally as done with Aiden's attitude. She felt bad for volunteering Noah to go with herself and Aiden, but Katty knew that it probably would have turned out worse if Glenn or Tara had been there.

Katty took a few deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. Aiden, somehow, had managed to keep his mouth shut, though she could feel that his arrogant expression was still fixed on her as she lightly moved through the forest. She slowed her pace as she scanned her surroundings, trying to pick out anything to put on the map.

A slough of water caught her eye, and she nodded at Noah before she changed her directory to the pond. There was a large encasing of Bulrush around one side of the marsh, and Katty quickly marked on the paper an approximate location.

"Why do you care about Cattails?" Aiden asked from over her shoulder. Katty stiffened and felt her nerves grate uncomfortably at his tone. Deep breaths, she told herself.

"Because it's an entirely edible plant and there's a ton of it here. It's worth noting," she explained patiently. Aiden wrinkled his nose.

"I'm not eating that."

Katty chewed the inside of both her cheeks and sent a silent prayer for the strength to resist choking him.

"When Alexandria runs out of stored food, you will. The flower spike kind of tastes like corn, actually," she added and Noah let out a laugh behind her.

"Well, I can definitely think of something else that I'd rather eat first," Aiden commented loudly, and the suggestion made Katty's blood boil. Her calming breaths weren't working anymore.

"Aiden, knock it off," Noah snapped, and Katty sent him an appreciative look. Aiden merely scoffed and raised his arms defensively at the other male.

They walked for a while more, and came across a few walkers that Noah and Katty made a point in beating Aiden to killing. Each time, he would grumble like an irritable child, which he essentially was.

She was in the middle of measuring out where the patch of Elderberries in front of her was on the map, when Aiden appeared beside her again.

"More food?" he asked, disinterested.

"Not really," she muttered back distractedly as she scrawled where she thought they were. "You can make elderberries into medicine. The flu, pain syndromes, allergies, blah blah," she frowned at the map and decided to try to make use of Aiden. "Is this right? Where are we?"

Aiden stretched his arm and placed it across her shoulder as he leaned in to look at the map. "Looks right to me," he commented, and Katty quickly shoved his arm off of her.

"Don't touch me," she snapped as she stepped away from him. Aiden merely sent her a grin.

This went on for a few more hours. Katty taking the time to mark something down, Aiden hitting on her, Noah defending Katty, and taking out the odd Biter. Aiden was really wearing her down, and she could feel her resolve waning. Katty had done alright in terms of what she had found in the border around Alexandria. A cottonwood tree that she found odd in it's appearance in Virginia, but was interested nonetheless. She made a note to collect sap to make a salve from it later, as it would soon be too late in the year to do so. There were a lot of plants that were essentially edible weeds, but she refrained from writing everything down. She would have to go out farther to find anything else that was remotely useful, she mused.

Katty had almost missed the small bell-shaped, purple flowers while she was walking and made sure to grab some Belladonna leaves. The roots would be harvested in the fall, but other parts of the plant could be prepared and stored now.

"What's that one?" Noah asked her, and Katty was thankful that it wasn't Aiden pestering her.

"Belladonna," Katty supplied easily as she placed the plant in her rucksack.

He squinted at the tall plant and thought for a moment. "Isn't that another name for night-shade?"

She glanced at him, surprise littering her features. "Yeah, actually. You can use it for pain, Asthma, as a sedative. Lots of stuff."

He looked dubiously at her ruck sack, "How do you figure out how much before it kills you?"

"We could test on people," she muttered with a dark look towards Aiden, and Noah laughed. "How'd you know what it was?" Katty asked, genuinely interested in Noah's background.

"Mum was into gardening, had a lot of books," Noah supplied with a shrug. "I read about the poisonous ones sometimes."

Katty smiled at him slightly. She had quickly come to appreciate Noah in their short time together. He was light-hearted and would easily make lame jokes or funny comments to calm her down when Aiden pissed her off. Noah was genial and dependable, two qualities that she wished Aiden would exhibit.

They had turned back around in a slow circle in order to meet back up with Glenn, Tara, and Nicholas by the agreed time. In that period, Katty was able to practice throwing knives at three more Biters, which she was somewhat thankful for. She was determined not to lose her skill in dealing with the undead while residing in Alexandria. Katty didn't want to think about what would happen if Alexandria fell and she was unprepared.

The three others were waiting for them a short distance off the main road, close to the Alexandria main gate when they finally made their way through the foliage. Noah and her both let out a relieved breath to find their two friends virtually unscathed.

"How'd it go?" Tara called out to her as they approached. Aiden went with Noah to talk to the other two men about numbers and compare notes on the areas that the two groups had covered, but Tara and Katty hung back near the forest edge. Katty took her rucksack off and unzipped it with the intent to show Tara what she had noted.

Katty stood with her back to the treeline, and sorted through the few items that she had collected, intermittently displaying and explaining to Tara what possible uses that the plants may have. Tara looked over the map with her and seemed overall interested and impressed with what Katty had found, even though it technically hadn't been much.

"Every bit helps," Tara commented assuredly after Katty had voiced her slight disappointment.

 _Crack._

A branch snapped lightly behind Katty, and Tara glanced up with alert eyes over Katty's shoulder quickly. Her mouth opened quickly to shout a warning, and Katty, with her slow reflexes, turned at the sound.

A Biter ambled out quickly from the edge of the woods, growling and snapping in their direction. Katty fumbled and dropped the map and her rucksack and she rushed to grab anything to defend them with. The Biter was large and tattered, tripping forward and righting itself sporadically as it toppled around on a broken ankle.

Katty was closer by a few feet, but the Biter bypassed her and lunged for Tara, who shuffled to grab her knife as well. Katty clasped the handle of her machete, moved forward, and swung the knife into it's skull. The body fell into Tara and Katty struggled to pull the machete from the walker. She tripped over the dropped rucksack and the three bodies tumbled to the ground unceremoniously.

They both groaned and Katty rolled off of the top of the pile of humans as Tara lay winded on the ground for a minute, under the corpse.

"Tara! Katty!" Glenn's worried yell sounded as multiple pairs of feet ran towards them. Glenn quickly pulled the Biter off of Tara as Aiden dragged Katty up from her dazed position on the ground.

"Add another one to the list," Tara said breathlessly to Glenn as she quickly looked over Katty for any injuries. "Thanks, girl." She said amicably, and Katty only nodded in response.

"That was bad timing," Katty commented as she collected her rucksack and machete from the ground.

"Yeah, no kidding," Tara agreed, and then bit her bottom lip and looked at Katty strangely. "It was weird though, the Walker completely overlooked you."

Katty stiffened slightly before shrugging in Tara's direction. "I think he just missed me, they're pretty stupid sometimes."

Tara frowned and looked at the unmoving Biter, confused. "Yeah, I guess. Looked like he ignored you, though."

"I'm not really on their radar. I think it's 'cause I was out there so long; I probably always smell like them." Katty supplied jokingly as they walked towards the front gate. Tara and Noah snorted a laugh.

Aiden came up beside her and swung an arm over Katty's shoulder again, "So when would you like to go back out, just us?"

Katty's skin crawled as she roughly shoved his arm away. Her fragile patience was thread-bare after hours of taunting and harassment from Aiden, and she scowled at him. "I'd love to but I have so many other things I need to do before that. Like drink bleach, stick something sharp in my eye," Katty tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You know, the life of a busy girl."

Glenn laughed loudly as he guided Katty by the elbow away from Aiden and through the main gate of Alexandria. They walked for a few more seconds before Aiden gave a loud, incredulous laugh.

"Oh, I get it." He taunted loudly.

Katty twisted away from Glenn and stared at Aiden with narrowed eyes. "Get _what_ , exactly?"

"That this is just your game," Aiden shrugged, "I've met girls like you before," He explained as he slowly walked towards Katty. The volume of his voice didn't decrease, it rose as he neared her. "Playing hard to get because they want a man that'll show them what they want."

"You're fucking delusional," she seethed at him. Katty was vaguely aware that their arrival and Aiden's loud voice was causing an influx of residents around them, but she refused to look way from Aiden. If intimidation was the game he wanted to play with her, she wouldn't back down.

"I heard what you were telling Rick before. About what the guards at the other place tried to do to you," he clarified and Katty froze and glanced around quickly. That wasn't information that she wanted to advertise, and she skimmed the faces of the people around her. Most looked confused, luckily. She turned back to Aiden with narrowed eyes; where was he going with this?

Aiden leaned in close with a knowing grin on his face. "You probably wanted it," he stated simply, and Katty felt something snap.

The last thread of patience had snapped and come apart, and suddenly all Katty could see was the colour red.

* * *

Daryl had been making his way down to the gate to start his afternoon watch shift, when he was greeted by a familiar scenario. A growing crowd of residents, with Glenn's group of supply runners as well as Aiden and his lackey in the middle. Different from last time, however, was the appearance of Kat, dangerously close to Aiden as the bigger male spoke loudly.

Daryl narrowed his eyes and quickly made his way over. He could see Rick and Michonne in the distance coming up from the lower street as well.

"I heard what you were telling Rick before. About what the guards at the other place tried to do to you," Daryl scowled and felt his blood boil that the self-entitled asshole had eavesdropped. Rick had indeed informed Daryl and Carol of everything that the girl had told him her first day in Alexandria, including that. Aiden was talking loudly, obviously aware that there were quite a few people around, and he seemed to want to put on a show. Fucking prick.

"You probably wanted it,"

Before Daryl could react in anger at, Kat tucked her chin and drove the crown of her head into Aiden's face. Seeing the petite girl headbutt the larger male made Daryl stop and he stared, somewhat astonished, at the scene before him.

Aiden cried out and stumbled back, clutching his jaw and mouth with his hands. Kat immediately grabbed the knife that Aiden had dropped on the ground and whipped it to the side, seemingly unthinking. It stuck in a skinny tree off of the paved road with a satisfying noise, and Daryl raised his eyebrows. It was either a lucky toss or the girl actually had some skill.

"Katty, wait –" Glenn tried to get out as the small girl charged towards Aiden again. Glenn, who was closest to Kat, grabbed the back of her backpack in an attempt to stop her, which ended up being futile. She slipped out of her coat and backpack and threw the bag back at Glenn, who stumbled back under the sudden weight.

"Stupid bitch," Aiden spat as he swung at her, and Kat took a quick step back and leaned away. Aiden clipped the side of her face, and Kat turned to the side and drove her elbow in the direction of his face again, but it only landed on his chest. Aiden shoved her arm away roughly, and the girl stumbled away from him. Aiden's mouth was freely bleeding now, and Daryl wondered interestedly if Kat had managed to knock out any teeth with her headbutt. Aiden swung at her again and Kat ducked down and swept her leg around his before driving her shoulder into Aiden's abdomen.

Daryl knew that he should step in and stop the fight, but he found himself impressed with the younger girl's efforts, and wanted to see more of it. It reminded him of someone, and he squinted at Kat while he tried to figure out what.

He stumbled and fell backwards over her leg, and Kat stood over Aiden, furious. Daryl was closer now, and he found himself transfixed by her. She was wild looking, everything from her messy hair to the look in her eyes, and he skimmed his eyes quickly over her. She was coiled tighter than a spring, all her muscles shaking and tensed, and Daryl could see the artery in her neck pulsing.

Wounded animals were always more dangerous than they looked.

"Get the fuck up," she ordered at Aiden as he lay winded on the ground.

Nicholas was suddenly behind her and grabbed Kat's arms, tugging them behind her back. She yelped in pain at the unnatural stretch of her limbs and Daryl moved forward to interfere. Kat was faster though, and raked the heel of her boot against Nicholas's shin. He hissed in pain and his grip loosened, so Kat swung her elbow back and into his gut.

Nicholas leaned forward with a grunt and Kat drove her head backwards into his face, repeatedly, until he stumbled away from her. His nose was dripping blood, and he went to charge at Kat again, before Rick stopped him. Suddenly there, Rick grabbed Nicholas by the shoulder and restrained him from attacking Kat again.

"Katty, stop!" Rick yelled gruffly at her, but she had already turned back towards Spencer.

Spencer had risen to his feet again, and Daryl realized with a twist of his gut that he was halfway through pulling the handgun at his side. Daryl started to push through the thin crowd to get to Kat; visions of a blonde, lifeless body in his arms filled his mind, and he felt himself panic. Not again. Not like this again. He felt himself stumble on a resident's foot as they struggled to get out of his way.

He glanced up in time to see Kat lunge forward and thrust the heel of her hand into Aiden's wrist. His grip slacked and she grabbed the gun from it's place at his side. Kat smacked him across the face with the gun, and Aiden's face twisted to the side, before his body caught up with him and he fell.

"Daryl, grab her!" Rick ordered at him when he noticed Daryl break through the ring of people.

Kat turned and threw Aiden's gun over the heads of whoever was around, and a splash vaguely registered in Daryl's mind as he encased Kat, pressing her arms to her side and making sure that her feet were away from him.

She struggled against him ardently and Daryl ground out, "Kat, stop – it's me," as he restrained her in his arms.

Kat stopped trying to kick and throw elbows, but she still squirmed against his body. "Daryl, let me go," she demanded as her backside ground against him. He felt his _entire body stiffen_ as blood rushed downwards to an inconvenient location.

"Kat, fucking _stop_ ," he growled in her ear desperately, which was ignored as the angry woman was still fixated on the dazed and confused form of Spencer. Daryl hoisted her up over his shoulder, and started to walk away with the fuming form of Kat draped over his back.

She was seething, and Daryl thought it was probably from a combination of embarrassment and rage at being manhandled by him. He made his way over to the water as she threatened him.

"Daryl, _put me down_. I'm not above grabbing your arse."

Daryl rolled his eyes to himself and scoffed. "Any excuse ta touch me, huh girl?"

Kat spluttered an unintelligible response, which Daryl ignored as he reached the edge of the water.

"Ya need ta cool off," he decided, and ignored the British squawk of, 'Wot?' as he shifted his grip tighter on her sides and forcibly pushed her body upwards and away from his shoulder with a grunt. Kat was in the air for a few feet before she landed with a decent splash, submerged in the water.

Kat broke through the surface of the water once more, spluttering and spitting liquid out of her mouth. "Fucking prick," she spat at him, and Daryl felt himself stiffen again, turned on. She was hot, angry and wet, and he hated it. He needed to get out of here.

Rick and Michonne had successfully broken up and dispersed the crowd, other than the key essential members, and Rick made his way over.

"Get the gun while you're in there, Katty," Rick ordered sternly before he looked at Daryl. "Don't take off; I might need you again," Daryl nodded but inwardly groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was stick around.

Rick turned at the appearance of Deanna hurrying down the road, and quickly strode over to meet her. Daryl watched as Noah, Glenn and Tara approached the two people as well, obviously intent to tell their side of the story.

 _Splat!_

Daryl felt something akin to wet fabric hit the side of his face, and he turned, instantly furious, towards Kat.

"The fuck is yer –"

He stopped mid sentence to stare at her, a loss for words. Her shirt was gone and she had her arms stretched towards her head, working to tie her wet hair back as she watched his expression. Daryl found himself staring at her chest, which was covered by a thin, white cotton bra. He could see the outline of her nipples against the fabric, and his throat went dry.

"Can you hold that for me? It's getting in the way of me finding the gun," she said sweetly, and Daryl narrowed his eyes. Kat put her hands back down to her sides and leaned forward while she continued to look for the gun alone the bottom. The motion made her breasts press firmly together and accentuated her cleavage. Daryl bit his tongue and attempted to keep himself from becoming slack jawed. He didn't hold the shirt; it just plopped uselessly to the ground as he stared at her.

Add that to the list of uncomfortable moments that he had with Kat.

She didn't look up, just continued to probe her foot along the bottom as she waded, and Daryl wondered if she was purposely folding her arms under her chest to drive him nuts. He shook his head to clear it. No way that would purposely be directed at him, Daryl reminded himself.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, she finally crouched down further into the water to pull something up. Clasping the gun triumphantly, Kat looked up towards him as she made her way over. He tried to ignore the way her breasts bounced and how the water dripped off her skin as she touched dry land and walked the short distance to him.

"Rick, I got it," she called over Daryl's shoulder. Daryl heard multiple pairs of feet make their way over, and turned to observe Tara, Noah and Glenn making their way over.

Glenn strode forward with Kat's jacket and backpack, and she took them gingerly from him. "Sorry for chucking my bag at you," she mumbled, and Glenn shook his head, unconcerned with the action.

"No hard feelings, you were upset. Prepare yourself for an earful though," he warned as Rick and Deanna approached. Aiden and Nicholas were walking towards them as well, but at a much slower pace. They were both holding various places on their bodies that had been hurt, as well as lightly touching their faces. Daryl smirked, glad that she had done some damage to the two assholes.

"Katty, this has to be quick because Aiden and Nicholas have to go up and see Pete to make sure nothing's broken," Deanna cast an unimpressed look towards her, "But Rick and I have a few things that have to be addressed.

Kat opened her mouth to argue, but Rick held up a hand. "We got the story from Glenn and Aiden both, Katty, you don't need to add anything."

She didn't look happy, but closed her mouth anyways and settled into silence.

"Fighting between our people isn't tolerated _at all_ ," Deanna chastised as she looked between both her son, his friend, and Kat. "We're trying to build a community, how are we supposed to do that if we can't depend on everyone to keep each other safe? Katty, if you have a problem with anyone you can take it up with myself or Rick," she focussed her gaze on the dripping girl, who scowled back at Deanna.

"I understand that Aiden has been verbally harassing you the majority of the day, which I will discuss with him later," Deanna shot a stern look to her son before looking back towards Kat, "But you can't solve that with violence. You're not children anymore, we shouldn't have to teach you not to hit."

Kat's jaw tensed at the jab, "You've got to be fucking –"

"Katty," Rick snapped. "Quiet. Listen to Deanna; if you have a problem with someone here, there are other ways to solve them than this."

Aiden and Nicholas sent smug looks to each other, which Daryl scowled at.

Rick turned to Aiden next. "You're an adult," he reprimanded. "When a woman tells you no, you don't keep berating her to get your way. And you definitely don't bring up in a crowd of people past traumas and you don't victim blame," Rick ground out at him, his anger flaring up as he stared the both of them down.

All three were now glaring at their feet, and Rick and Deanna looked them both over for a terse minute.

"This discussion is finished. Now, apologize and shake hands so we can –" Deanna started, but the three young adults interrupted with varied vocalizations that expressed their disagreement.

"She's crazy, I'm not touching her!"

"No way."

"Fuck that."

"STOP IT," Rick loudly abolished over their complaints. "Katty, you can start."

"I'm sorry you're such a piece of shit," Kat sneered at Aiden, who scowled at her in response.

"Katty!" Rick snapped.

Her shoulders raised and fell three times as she took multiple, deep breaths to calm herself. Kat glanced between the two men, still angry, but her tone was less sarcastic and taunting, and instead grouchier. "Sorry," she muttered and stuck out her hand to Aiden.

He glared at her before Deanna shot him a pointed look and he sighed before he clasped her hand briefly. "Sorry." Aiden bit back at her.

Kat repeated the process with Nicholas, who shook her hand for an even shorter amount of time, and Deanna nodded her head, seemingly satisfied.

"Aiden, Nicholas, go to the infirmary," she sternly ordered. Aiden cast another angry look at Kat, which she returned full force, before he walked away. Deanna follow and walked behind the two stalking figures.

"Katty," Rick pinched the bridge of his nose, "Go get dried off, you're going to get sick."

Kat nodded and Tara walked forward and grabbed her hand. Kat cast one last look at Daryl and he raked her eyes over her wet form before she smiled and turned away to leave with Tara. Fuck, did she see that? Glenn and Noah followed behind them, most likely to talk about what had happened.

Once they were a distance away, Daryl looked towards Rick, who was still standing there with a hand roughly rubbing over his face.

Daryl's lips turned into a smirk, and he snorted, trying not to outright laugh.

Rick looked over and frowned at him, "What's so funny?"

A short laugh escaped Daryl at Rick's displeased face. "Nothin'. Sorry, _Principle Grimes_ ," Rick shook his head, disbelieving. He eventually laughed as well, and then ran a hand through his short hair.

"Shut up, Daryl," Rick tossed at him, but it held no anger or malice, so Daryl snorted again.

"Gonna give me a detention?" he chuckled at his own joke.

Rick sent him a look that read as unimpressed, before he smirked. "If you're lucky I'll put you and Katty in detention together, brother." Rick took his turn and laughed at Daryl's blush and sour expression.

"Dunno what yer talkin' about," he muttered before he turned on heel and stalked off towards the wall for his watch shift, intent to get away from Rick and any images of a wet, angry Kat that would disrupt his thoughts and his focus. Fuck, there they were again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, you! Thanks for finishing another chapter. The next one will pick up where this one leaves off, and will have more Katty and Daryl in it. Was going to add some more Merle to this chapter, but it would have made it too long and I want to avoid rushing any scenes.

Review if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you think! Constructive criticism welcome as well, guys.

-Submechanophobia


	7. Kitty Cat

Heterochromia Iridum

 **This basically picks up directly where the last one left off (same day).**

 **I'm in awe at the few people that have PM'd me with their theories of where this is going. So excited and some of you are on the right track, actually. I'm adding details to my notes as I go to make this a cohesive story when it's finished. Can't wait!**

 **Thank you to** **addicted2memories** **,** **JenTen** **,** **imlovinfanfic** **,** **Lorento** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **, and** **please** **for reviewing the last chapter, thank you to the few people that messaged me and thanks to everyone new that has added this story to their favourites or alerts!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Kitty Cat

Katty was pissed off. Ashamed. Embarrassed. Every possible cacophony of synonyms and hyperboles rolled into one being. Everything, except for apologetic. She didn't give a fuck what repercussions would come from attacking Aiden and in turn, Nicholas. The negative emotions were more from the people that had witnessed it. She didn't want them all thinking she was a loose cannon; easily upset and quick to become violent.

Deanna wasn't who she was worried about, and ultimately, the majority of Alexandria residents probably didn't enjoy her presence anyways. Rick and his group were who she was worried about. He had practically scolded her, like she was an impudent child, alongside with Deanna, and it disconcerted her.

Tara, Glenn, and Noah had all followed her back to the house, babbling and congratulating her for 'putting Aiden in his place'. She had snapped at them irritably in response, annoyed that they hadn't been empathic to her embarrassment. Glenn even had the nerve to laugh and say that Rick hadn't actually been annoyed with her, and that all of them had been trying to be on their best behavior for Deanna. Rick was just following the instructions he had laid out for their faction, they had reassured her. The other two had backed up this declaration, though Katty was still uneasy about the aftermath of the physical altercation.

It was early into the evening now and she had successfully ushered the trio out of the house so she could shower and sulk in peace. She was currently drip drying with a towel on while she stared at the wall, contemplating what to do. Katty wanted to speak with Rick, apologize if she had placed him in an uncomfortable position, but she wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation.

Daryl was on another plotline – a different story entirely. She was high on epinephrine and his rough, low voice in her ear coupled with how Daryl had manhandled her over his shoulder had sent her into a downward spiral of impulsive behavior. Katty wished that she had a selective memory and could forget the fact that she had taken her shirt off. No such luck so far, though.

The way he had looked at her, raked his eyes over her upper half after she had flung the sopping material at him, sent delusional shivers up her spine. Katty tried to remind herself that this was not an alternate reality where Daryl would be interested in her. He was strong, resilient, loyal, completely self-sufficient and in all terms, a survivor. Katty was awkward and couldn't even shoot a gun without flinching and shutting her eyes. Not to mention she thought that Daryl might have something going on with Carol; she had seen them talking and approaching each other

frequently, and they definitely had some sort of connection.

She needed to get over her schoolgirl crush, it wouldn't do either of them any good. Especially if it ended in her being a home wrecker.

As she reluctantly put on the ice cream boobed tourist shirt and sequined shorts, Katty was reminded of the fact that she needed more clothes. All the rest of hers were either wet or dirty, so she made due. Speaking of which, she still had Maggie's jacket and she had told her she would return it to her today.

Katty chewed her lower lip and contemplated what to do. She could feign looking for Maggie in order to judge Rick's reaction to her and apologize. Then if he wasn't there it wouldn't matter; she could just return the item of clothing and go back to sulking.

A new pair of socks, followed by her Timberland work boots, were crammed onto her feet and she forced herself out of the house before she could change her mind.

Katty made her way the short distance to the side-by-side units that housed Rick's group. Glenn had told her that he and Maggie typically went to the main house most evenings, so she grit her teeth and propelled herself towards the one on the left. As her knock sounded on the wood door, Katty felt herself becoming more and more cowardly and hopeful. Maybe Rick wouldn't be here, maybe she could drop off the jacket and then quickly –.

Rick's bright blue eyes that were narrowed in a contemplative squint appeared before her, and Katty froze. She thrust the jacket out at him. "Can you give this to Maggie for me? Thanks, I'll just go now," she muttered while she avoided eye contact and quickly turned away once he had taken the jacket from her. It wasn't worth sticking around and seeing if he was annoyed, she decided. Wait a few days, let him cool off; that was a better idea.

"Nice outfit," he chuckled at her, and she froze. Maybe he wasn't mad.

"You can borrow the shorts if you like. Sequins are definitely your colour, Rick," Katty was pleased that he didn't look irritated with her appearance in front of him, so she decided to stick around for at least a few more minutes. A silence fell over them as they watched each other, and Rick sighed and scratched a hand over his stubble.

"Katty, about earlier –"

"I apologized to Aiden and Nicholas earlier, but I wanted to say sorry to you too. I know I took it too far and put you in a crappy position. Sorry," she finished and shuffled her feet around while she attempted eye contact. She wasn't good with apologies, but Katty would try if the person deserved it.

Rick stared at her for a while before he responded, "The only thing that I was uncomfortable with was that I wasn't beatin' the shit out of Aiden along with you." Katty gaped at him for a while, disbelieving of his words. He observed her hesitation, and continued. "Noah felt you handled yourself well out there, and Tara said you saved her."

"It was nothing, I just –" Katty immediately tried to splutter out in protest. She didn't save Tara, she had distracted her from the rest of the group and had almost gotten them both bit.

Rick took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Katty was thankful that he ignored the fact that she flinched slightly.

"It wasn't nothin'," he drawled at her as he leaned in, a serious expression on his face. "You helped keep them safe. And we'll do the same for you, Katty."

She stiffened and thought over his words. Did he think she was incompetent? "You lot don't have to protect me. I know I'm not intimidating, but I can take care of myself."

Rick shook his head at her. "It's what we do," and Katty knew it wasn't up for discussion. "We keep ours safe," her heart panged at the implication of his words, and she subtly pinched her leg to keep from sniffling like a pansy. She was touched, to have been referred to as part of the group already.

Rick looked around behind Katty briefly before he spoke again, and it was in a lower, quieter tone this time around. "Deanna is," he paused as he mulled his wording over, " _cautious_ , of us, of me especially. We're playin' by her rules for the time bein'. You should too."

Of course they were cautious. These people hadn't met anyone like Rick before. He was foreign; alien; a threat to their shroud of a peaceful society. Katty's eyes drifted around the block, from the weirdly well kempt lawns to the Desperate Housewives of Virginia-esque properties.

"What happens when Deanna can't keep us safe?"

The question hung in the air and Rick stepped forward as he observed the passive appearance of the streets of Alexandria alongside Katty.

" _She won't make the rules anymore_."

She expected the response, but Katty's gut still clenched uncomfortably. Could the impending course of inevitable be changed? She thought of the faces that encompassed Rick's conglomerate of survivors and realized that it didn't matter much to her, as long as those she cared about were safe. In her short time here, the group had quickly become something to her, made her feel something that wasn't redundancy and hopelessness, a cognitive dissonance from what she felt outside the walls.

"I'm with you," There were three words that held the world, and she saw Rick nod slightly out of her peripheral.

* * *

Katty wasn't sure what she expected when she tromped back up the stairs to the house, but it definitely had not been the form of Daryl hunched over in his seat on the wooden bench. His eyes flicked up to her as he continued to gnaw at the skin around his thumb, and Katty wondered why he looked nervous.

He did a double take at her sudden appearance, and his thumb dropped from his mouth.

"Tha fuck are ya wearin', girl?"

Katty's face heated up and her ears burned as he gawked at her choice of attire. She felt entirely underdressed, which struck her as odd since she had taken her shirt off unabashedly hours before. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that her bra was drying inside said house, and though her breasts were now smaller than they were pre-apocalypse, they weren't quite non-existent. Fuck.

She coughed and tried to regain her composure. "Not a fan of ice cream on tits, Daryl?" was the first thing that popped out of her mouth, and she realized right after that it didn't help her situation. His eyes immediately glanced down to the printed picture on her shirt, and his eyebrows rose.

She could feel her nipples harden from the combination of the cooling evening air and Daryl's blue eyes on her, and she cringed inwardly. Not a good time, body, she scolded herself. We were meant to get over the crush, not add to it.

"Did you need something?" she asked and attempted to keep her tone kind. Katty figured that if Daryl would leave immediately if he sensed the smallest amount of taunting or negativity from her, so she kept it genial.

His eyes snapped back to the ground, but he didn't get up from his seated position on the bench. His hands fiddled as he picked at his nails and Daryl didn't look up. "Jus' wanted ta make sure yer alright," he mumbled, and Katty smiled at the visible portion of his face.

She didn't respond right away, Katty moved silently and sat beside him on the uncomfortable bench. There was some space between them, but she was glad when Daryl didn't tense up or scoot away from her.

"I'm alright, Daryl. Thank you." She said softly after she inclined her head towards him. He just nodded roughly as he stared at his fingernails, and Katty thought he was cute when he was nervous. "And thanks for – what was it you said – helping me to _cool off_?" she added jokingly.

Daryl snorted. "Ya needed it, Rambo."

Katty laughed loudly and she grinned at the space in front of her. "If he was saying half that shit to you that he was me, you would have shot a bolt in his ass."

Daryl's expressions turned sour, and his hands clenched in his lap. "Should've shot him for talkin' to ya like that," he growled out as he scowled at the ground.

Katty regarded the man as he fumed silently beside her. She was touched that Daryl felt the need to defend her honour, even though it was entirely unnecessary. The situation had been taken care of, and Katty was a discourse of guilt and pride that she had taken care of it to the degree that she had. Glancing up at Daryl once more, she frowned as he now looked at war with himself. He looked angry and disappointed.

"Should've done sumthin'," he muttered to himself, and Katty shook her head slightly at him. He didn't appear to see the gesture, so she reached her hand out and placed it on top of one of his clenched ones. Daryl visibly flinched, but Katty decided not to move it, just to wait and see what would happen. He didn't swipe his away, so Katty looked towards their hands. His was still clenched, and Katty was struck by the juxtaposition of their two extremities. Her hand looked small and pale and entirely clean compared to his rough, larger, and dirtier one, and she thought the difference almost looked comical.

Daryl was looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and Katty resumed her gaze on the scenery in front of her.

"You're not obligated to defend my honour, Daryl. I'm just glad you were there to stop it before things got out of hand."

He didn't say anything in response, Katty could just feel his burning eyes on her face as he contemplated her words. As she looked over him and offered him a smile, Daryl gnawed his lower lip and bounced his eyes from her to away from her a few times.

"Gotta say it was surprisin', Kat," he said finally after a stretch of silence. Daryl let out a short, disbelieving exhale of air that could almost be considered a laugh, and Katty felt her heart clench at the use of his nickname for her.

"Merle taught me a few things," Katty said as she tried to subtly watch Daryl's hand as it slowly uncurled from the previous clenched fist.

"Thought I recognized that headbutt," he commented as he peered over at her.

She laughed. "Been on the receiving end of those before?" Her heart picked up as she loosely laced her fingers between his. It couldn't have even been considered holding hands, she more shifted her hand so she settled in the grooves between his fingers, they weren't quite intertwined. She felt like a child trying to get away with something.

If Daryl noticed the motion, he decided to ignore it as he replied to her. "Can't picture him teachin' anything," Katty thought he sounded curious and she smiled at the unasked question.

"Surprisingly, he was interested in teaching me anything that involved either yelling at me, bossing me around or showing me how much I sucked at something," she drawled sarcastically, and Daryl snorted.

Katty settled herself further onto the bench and tried to get comfortable as she thought over how to start the story.

* * *

She was well aware of the fact that she was useless, Katty wasn't in need of Merle to remind her of the fact multiple times a day.

Calum and herself had been in Woodbury for about a week now, and her lanky friend had definitely made himself useful with his position on the wall. Calum was a good shot, and Katty scowled to herself as she remembered her attempt at taking down anything from the walkway on top of the wall. It had been miserable and embarrassing, and she could still hear the snickers and the whooping laugh that erupted from the other guards.

"Ya would do more damage if you clawed at 'em, Kitty Cat," he would taunt as he slapped his knee and laughed at her expense.

It was their routine. Calum would attempt to teach her how to shoot, she would suck at it, Merle would make fun of her, she would get embarrassed and sulk.

He was always nearby, ready to accost her for "not knowin' shit". He didn't understand how Katty, who didn't know how to shoot, fight, or do anything more than swing a bat, had survived months into the apocalypse. Merle, like the gentleman he claimed to be, would take every opportunity to remind her of the fact.

Which is what was happening currently, as Calum tried to get her not to shut her eyes before she pulled the trigger. Apparently that would help. Go figure.

"Kitty Cat, why aren'tcha fuckin' our boy Calum?" Merle asked, and Katty scowled. She was more annoyed with herself and that she knew this was Merle attempting an actual conversation with her. Katty decided not to respond and instead focussed on the tips that Calum was giving her.

"So to be consistent, you have to breathe properly too. Your lungs will support your positioning better if you make sure you're firing when you naturally pause for a breath –"

"Ya could at least suck him off a few times, seeing how much time he's wasting on teachin' yer useless ass."

Calum's lips twitched as he tried not to laugh, and Katty shot him a disdainful look. Her friend had immediately taken to Merle, even though Merle had called him a 'fag' during their first encounter. The two men had quickly found two things that they had in common; telling dirty jokes and enjoying to annoy Katty.

"What do you want Merle, a handwritten pamphlet of reasons I don't want to fuck Calum?" she snapped at him and turned back to Calum. Calum wasn't the best teacher; he didn't really understand why Katty hadn't gotten the hang of shooting yet and was running out of suggestions of tips and ways to teach her. But he was all she currently had, and now that they weren't constantly running for their lives, she had time to learn.

Merle wheezed a laugh out and then sent a grin her way that Katty knew couldn't be good. "Ah, I get it now, don't worry."

Katty glanced at him with a quizzical expression. She wasn't going to take the bait and ask why, as she assumed it was something rude or vulgar, probably both if she knew Merle.

"Pussycat likes pussy," he stated simply and Calum let out a loud guffaw. Katty rolled her eyes, her patience wearing thin with the older man.

"That's why yer shit with guns, then. Ya don't know how to _cock_ 'em properly," he continued with a shit-eating grin on his face. By now the other couple male guards on the wall were snickering too, and Calum was trying his best not to laugh. Merle was picking at his nails with his hunting knife as he smirked at her, obviously trying to get a rise out of Katty.

Katty let out a disbelieving snort and turned towards Merle. "Merle, I understand that your whole thing is being a fuckin' asshole, but do you mind momentarily shutting that crater you call a mouth while I try to improve myself?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice and batted her eyelashes at the offending male.

There was a moment of silence as the men glanced at Merle nervously to see how angry he was. Merle, however, let out a loud whooping laugh and stabbed his knife into the side of the wall so he could slap his thigh again.

"Weow, Kitty Cat has got some claws!" He exclaimed happily once he had finished laughing. "Ya know, if ya let ol' Merle teach ya, I wouldn't be focussed on teachin' ya any of the hippy dippy shit." He commented. "Breathing lesson. Pah!" Merle waved his hand dismissively at the idea, as if it carried a bad smell.

"Really, you think you could do better?" Katty asked with a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight to her other leg. Merle nodded at her with a Cheshire grin, and Katty regarded him for a minute. She highly doubted that Merle was capable of teaching anyone how to peel a potato, never mind showing Katty how to proficiently use a firearm. Merle wasn't patient, nurturing, kind, or any qualities that good teachers had. In all likelihood, he was probably just offering so that he would have more material to tease her with. But, on the other hand, she was desperate enough to take him up on it.

"Deal," she stated firmly. Merle, in another effort to fuck with her, spat into his palm and stuck it out to her to shake it. Katty resisted rolling her eyes and spat into her hand as well and grabbed Merle's before he had a chance to back out. The surprised and slightly disgusted look on his face was enough to get her through the rest of the day.

"Let's go, Kitty Cat."

Merle had refused to teach her anything inside the walls, claiming that it 'had to be authentic', and 'not any of this pussy shit'. Katty was somewhat nervous about going outside Woodbury with only Merle, but she figured that even if he was an asshole, he wouldn't let her die. Hopefully.

They walked through the forest. Katty had no idea where they were or where they were going, but after the third time she had asked and Merle hadn't answered, she gave up and just followed him. He hadn't exactly been silent, but Merle had threatened to string Catnip to her and dangle her over a Biter pit if she kept pestering him. She doubted he had Catnip, but she rolled her eyes and kept quiet anyways.

She walked behind him a few feet and tried to make herself as silent as Merle was. It had surprised her at first, the man was big and built like a fucking brickhouse but was virtually silent as he navigated skillfully through the bush.

Katty soon grew bored of staring at the back of Merle's cropped head, and tried to make conversation.

"Did you hunt much before, Merle?" She asked. In that moment, he had reminded her of her father, in an odd way. Her dad didn't hunt much, but when they had lived in Washington and owned property, he liked to go through the woods often. Soon it became almost second nature to him, and he had made sure every movement was precise and graceful when he had ventured into any piece of land.

Merle snorted at her now apparent understatement. "Me and baby brother's home was the backwoods. Caught almost everythin' we ate."

So he had a brother. Katty wondered where he was now, if he was alive still. "What's your brother like?" Katty found herself asking. She pictured a miniature version of Merle, with a matching sneer and attitude. It was probably lucky that they weren't together, she thought selfishly. There was no doubt in her mind that two Merle's would make her go insane.

"He's a good kid. Put me up when I got out of prison. It's always been jus' me 'nd him, growin' up."

Katty noticed that he didn't refer to his brother in past tense, and she ventured a guess that Merle assumed he was still alive, wherever he was.

"So he's not like you, then?" Katty asked teasingly, and Merle snorted.

"Still a Dixon. But no, Daryl has, uh, different priorities than me, if ya get what I mean," Merle explained and paused momentarily to wag his eyebrows at Katty.

"Wasn't as into collecting venereal diseases as you were?" She guessed, and Merle scowled at her.

"My dick's plenty clean, girl," he snapped and then resumed walking. "But no. Didn't appreciate most o' that shit. Bitched at me for ages when I bought him a hooker for his birthday one year," Katty could practically feel Merle roll his eyes at the memory, and she followed suit.

"Too bad I didn't meet Daryl first, then. Sounds like I'd like him better." Katty hadn't been sure of that, but she wanted to take her turn and try to get a rise out of Merle now.

He snorted again. "Fuck off. When I find him I don't want ya tryin' to hop on his dick, neither. Me and him got some catchin' up to do," Merle explained, and Katty glared at the back of his head. That was another statement that didn't deserve a response, she thought.

"Not that ya'd be into him anyways, uppity bitch like ya are," and just like that, the tables had turned. Merle had an irritating quality about him that allowed him to steer to conversations and annoy her in three seconds flat, even when she thought she had the upperhand. An intelligence about him that allowed him to look at someone for a second and know instantly what would upset them.

"Really, and how do you figure that?" she said as she tried not to bristle.

From ahead of her, Merle shrugged like it was the most obvious concept on the planet. "Just statin' a fact, darlin'. Ya never would have given us the time of day before. Funny how the world ends and suddenly everyone loves us rednecks."

Katty frowned, thinking that his assumption was entirely untrue, but she refrained from arguing. Merle would think about her what he wanted; biases were mostly based off past experiences, anyways.

"Well, I'd like to meet him when you find him, anyways."

Merle sent a toothy grin over his shoulder at her. "Will do, Kitty Cat."

* * *

Katty had tried to summarize it at some points, and leave certain details out as she spoke to Daryl. Like that fact that Merle had disclosed that he had paid a prostitute for his younger brother. Daryl was a private person, and she was sure that he wouldn't want her knowing shit like that about him. Katty was curious if he had ended up fucking the prostitute, but Merle hadn't told her, so she assumed it would remain a mystery to her.

She had kept most of the details in, and was pleased when Daryl would make expressions that showed he was listening when she spoke. Daryl would often scoff, shake his head, roll his eyes, or mutter something under his breath when Katty told him some of the shit that his older brother had said to her.

And she didn't mind his blush when she repeated that Merle felt Daryl had 'different priorities' than him. Katty liked the dissonance that Daryl was. Someone that was rough and oozed manliness but was also shy was appealing, she thought. It was probably why she enjoyed teasing him so much.

Katty considered informing him that she didn't like pussy, unlike what Merle had assumed, but thought better of it. Daryl would probably just get up and leave at the comment, and she wanted him to stick around for a bit longer.

Her ass was also numb from sitting on the wooden bench, and she was painfully aware that the night had cooled further and her nipples were still poking into her shirt. Two perfect excuses so that she could invite Daryl in, not that she would tell him either. Katty realized that she hadn't taken her hand off of his for the duration of her story, and stretched her arms above her head before she got up.

"Wanna go inside? My ass is numb and it's cold," So much for not telling him about her ass. Katty thought she saw his eyes flicker to her chest when she mentioned the dropping temperature, but she decided to ignore it. She didn't really want to allow herself to lose her nerve and become embarrassed.

Daryl hesitated, and she felt the need to add on to her invitation. "I keep forgetting to go to the pantry and pick up food, but I think there's cans of stuff in the cupboard. I'll make you something, come on." She opened the door to the house and waved him through.

He only stalled for a few more seconds as he chewed his lip contemplatively, and then followed her through the entryway after a brief nod. Katty smiled to herself and made her way to the kitchen. Daryl stood awkwardly in between the kitchen and the living area with his hands shoved in his pockets, and she gestured for him to sit at the island in front of her.

It was entirely too silent, and Katty was in a good mood after talking to Rick and now seeing Daryl, so she hummed quietly to herself as she went through the cupboards.

She felt Daryl staring at her, so Katty paused and looked over at him. Daryl was looking at her with an odd mix of emotions on his face, most of which she felt she couldn't define or label. If she had tried to, Katty would guess that it was an unsettling mixture of sadness, guilt, surprise and – hopefulness? She squinted at him slightly as she tried to figure out the mismatch.

Daryl seemed to realize that he had been staring, and immediately cleared his throat and became interested in his fingernails again.

"Ya sing much?" he asked quietly.

Katty wondered what he was thinking about, and she ventured a guess that it wasn't her in that moment. She licked her lips and tried not to read too much into it, for fear that it would hurt if she did.

"I used to. Not much anymore though, since, you know –" Katty waved her hand around as she gestured figuratively to the world around them. "Used to play the guitar, too." She added as an afterthought. It had been a very long time since she had picked up an instrument. Not that she was that good at the guitar, but Katty could strum a few tunes.

Daryl appeared lost in his mind, so Katty busied herself with her attempt of a meal from mushing together a few cans. She wasn't too worried, as she assumed that Daryl wasn't a picky eater. She wasn't either. Katty left the food on the stove in pots to heat up and grabbed Daryl a glass of water. It had also been assumed by her that if she asked him, he would have declined, so she just brought him one without asking, and perched next to him at the island.

She was musing over ways and topics that she could bring up to break the silence, when Daryl chose for her.

"So Merle didn't ever teach ya ta shoot?"

Katty laughed and Daryl peered at her, curious. "He tried. I think he helped me improve a bit, but Merle was torn between being helpful and making fun of me, so it wasn't much in the end. Maybe if we had more time," she trailed off thoughtfully.

Daryl snorted. "Sounds like Merle."

"He did teach me to fight pretty well and how to use knives," she added so that she didn't seem completely hopeless to Daryl.

He raised his eyebrows at her, "Saw you stick the tree with Aiden's knife," he commented, and Katty tried to keep her head from inflating as she noticed the impressed tone in Daryl's voice.

"All Merle. Mostly," Katty added as an afterthought. "One day he decided to scrap the gun lessons and try other shit, since all I had really used before was this bat I had. Knives were easier for me to get, in comparison to guns. So we focussed more on what I could do, rather than what I couldn't. Hand to hand combat I picked up pretty quickly too, more because it was necessary than because I had natural talent. Merle is pretty brutal when he wants to be." She explained, thinking about the many injuries and bruised ribs that Merle had given her over the months.

"He was in tha military," Daryl clarified, and Katty nodded.

"Yeah, mentioned something about punching a sergeant?" Katty laughed shortly. "That why he was in prison?"

Daryl shrugged. "In 'nd outta juvie a lot when we were kids, too. But yeah, Merle got court-martialed for it."

"Makes sense," she noted, but it really didn't matter to her either way. Merle was Merle. "It showed, in how he fought and how he explained body mechanics and stuff to me, that he was properly trained."

She was shorter and a lot smaller than Merle, and Merle had made sure to point out to her that if she was in a physical fight, most of her opponents would be bigger than her. It was somewhat discouraging at first, but Merle had worked with her to make her faster, and more confident so that she would strike first. He had explained that if she wasn't as physically intimidating or as strong as someone, Katty would need to be faster and fight harder; be more ruthless.

What he had actually said was, "Ya ain't a big fucker but ya gotta hit like you are. Move those chicken legs, Kitty Kat."

Katty had told him this, and Daryl had smirked when she mimicked Merle's southern accent. She knew it had probably sounded strange, coming out of her mouth, but it added to her story.

Daryl just shook his head at her, "Don't do that, sounds wrong," he teased and Katty laughed lightly and got up to stir the food on the stove.

"Not a fan of me stealing your sexy southern drawl?" Katty questioned while she pushed around the food in the pot. It was probably almost done, she mused.

Katty turned around when she had finished and consequently noticed that Daryl hadn't responded. Confusion set in as to why Daryl's face was slightly red again. She replayed the last words out of her mouth in her mind, and felt her own face heat up as well.

Goddamnit. She really needed to use the filter between her brain and mouth more.

"Uh, food's ready," she nervously exclaimed and turned back around to start plating their dishes. Katty thought she heard Daryl chuckle lightly from behind her, but refused to turn around and check until her face was no longer pink.

Katty placed a plate in front of him and then sat back down in her previous seat. Daryl muttered a 'Thanks' at her and she offered him a smile, hoping that her skin was back to its normal shade.

They ate in silence for the majority of it, and Katty tried not to laugh as Daryl practically shoved everything into his mouth with reckless abandon. It amused her more than it disgusted her, really. At least it meant that he liked her food. Daryl told her so with an appreciative grunt and a, "'S good, thanks" when his plate was empty and he went for seconds.

"It's not like its real meat or anything," Katty commented with a shrug when she had finished as well. "But it's good enough, I suppose."

Daryl stretched in the seat beside her, and Katty subtly looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. The muscles in his arms were taut and strained as Daryl stretched them above his head briefly, and Katty felt her breath catch in her throat. She forced herself to look away before she got caught checking him out and busied herself by grabbing their dishes to wash them.

"Think I'll try ta go huntin' soon," Daryl commented to himself. Katty figured that her comment about 'real meat' had reminded him, and she glanced over her shoulder at him, interested. "Goin' out with Aaron tomorrow, so maybe the day after." He scratched his chin idly as he looked out the kitchen window.

Katty slowed her cleaning as she contemplated ways to ask if she could accompany him. Many phrases slipped into her mind, but she wasn't sure which one Daryl would say yes to. He would probably get annoyed if she started to ramble about reasons why he should let her. Anything eloquent sounding would be lost on the man, so Katty figured the direct approach would probably be best.

"Can I come with you?" She asked offhandedly, without turning around. Maybe if she wasn't staring at him, he'd feel less defensive and would permit it.

He was quiet for a few minutes, and Katty finally decided to suck it up and face him. Looking at him now, his eyebrows were raised and he looked surprised.

"Ya want ta go huntin'?"

She chewed her lip, "Yeah, why not? I know some stuff, I'm not completely useless."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow and looked dubious. "Ya know how ta keep quiet?"

"You won't even know I'm there," Katty replied with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

He still looked doubtful of her ability to remain silent, and Katty sighed. "I'll help carry stuff and it means you won't have to ask Aaron to go with you," she bribed with a hopeful look.

Daryl licked his lips and thought it over for a long minute, before he gave a noncommittal shrug. "As long as ya keep yer mouth shut and don't scare away everythin', fine," he grumbled roughly, but Katty grinned at him, ignoring the slight jab. It reminded her of when she would whine at Merle to take her hunting, though he was typically a lot ruder than what Daryl had grouched at her.

"I'm leavin' at dawn. If yer not there, I'll leave without ya," he continued, and Katty nodded enthusiastically.

"Don't worry, Daryl. I'll surprise you," she responded confidently, and turned back to finish washing their dishes. She definitely heard him mutter, "Hope not," but she ignored it, refusing to allow Daryl to ruin her good mood. Day after tomorrow, she'd be out hunting with Daryl.

"If you come across any liquor when you're out tomorrow, you should grab it. We'll have bevs with dinner next time," Katty commented as she walked Daryl to the door shortly after their previous conversation.

Daryl shot her an amused look while they stood on the porch outside. "Don't ya think you should take a break after last night?" he cheeked, and Katty raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh please, don't act like you didn't enjoy me entertaining you." She scoffed at him, and Daryl responded with an expression that demonstrated he hadn't been impressed with her antics.

"Come on," she laughed, "Stealing your smoke, calling you daddy, making you walk me home. I'm a delight," Katty listed before she had truly thought over the contents of her archived memories of last night.

Daryl let out a bewildered scoff and shook his head. In the dim light, Katty could barely make out a pink tint to his cheeks again, and she smiled at the hunter.

"I just mean, if you want to come by for dinner again sometime, feel free. Alcohol or not," she clarified in a softer voice as she ran her eyes along Daryl's face once more. He nodded stiffy, and she said goodnight to him.

As he walked down the porch steps and in the direction of the other house, Katty watched him.

"Stay safe out there tomorrow," she called out to him after a second of deliberation. Daryl responded with a lazy wave over his shoulder, and didn't turn around or stop walking.

Katty felt herself smiling at the noncommittal response; it represented Daryl well. She wasn't ever quite sure what was in his head, or how he felt, but he definitely had a lot going on.

Maybe one day she would figure it out.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! Next one probably wont go up 'til beginning of next week, depending on how busy I get.

I'm planning out future chapters, and I wanted to ask what you guys thought about smut. Originally I had planned on including smut, but I'm wondering if people would prefer if it was just implied? I'm comfortable writing either, just curious what you thought.

Leave a review and let me know!

-Submechanophobia


	8. Owls

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! Sorry I'm a bit late, been busy with work. Still working to slowly include all the characters and give everyone some air time. I'm still missing a few people, but don't worry, I know. I'll try to get the next one up soon, hopefully by this weekend.**

 **Thanks to** **fangirl0012345** **,** **TheHungryRainbow** **,** **RinWolf08** **,** **mayasquared** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **Frankie** **,** **Lorento** **,** **Landraelle** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **JanJan** **,** **Rumbling Frenzy** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Guest** **, and,** **JenTen** **all for reviewing. And thank you to everyone new that has added this story to their favourites or alert list!**

 **Also, the response to the smut question was basically a unanimous yes haha, so that will be included eventually. All in due time, my pervs.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Owls

That morning, Deanna had come to her door early with a tedious task for the day. The time hadn't bothered Katty; she had been up most of the night, unable to remain asleep for longer than an hour at a time. Thinking back on it now, it was probably a result of retelling stories of her time at Woodbury to Daryl. Though the memories had been positive in a sense, it had unsettled her to her core and made it difficult to turn her brain off that night. Katty was accustomed to sleepless nights and early mornings; it was just another one to add to the count.

Deanna felt that during Katty's time in Alexandria, she hadn't spent much time with any residents that didn't include members of Rick's group, so she urged her to connect with different people today. She had hinted that she would be "keeping an eye out" to make sure she was socializing, and Katty had to resist rolling her eyes at the former politician. Katty wondered if it was a form of punishment for smacking her son around.

She was just on her way out the door to awkwardly meander and attempt to make nice with some Alexandrians, when a knock sounded at her door for the second time that morning. Katty scowled to herself when she felt her heart jump into her throat. It was a false hope, but she wanted it to be the hunter, saying a quick goodbye before he left with Aaron for the day. That wasn't in his character, but she couldn't help but be disappointed when a head of blonde hair greeted her instead.

"Hi, I didn't really get to introduce myself properly before," the familiar face looked nervous and Katty cocked her head at her. "I'm Jessie, I work at the pantry," Jessie inclined her face and nodded at the basket of food items in her arms, and Katty raised her eyebrows in recognition.

"Right, I remember. I'm Katty, nice to meet you. Come on in," Katty stepped aside so Jessie could walk through the doorway. Jessie quickly shuffled by her towards the kitchen and sent her a small, unsure smile. She probably thought that Katty was going to bring up what happened with Pete earlier. She definitely wanted to, but it was also obvious to her that a direct confrontation wouldn't do much to help the situation.

"Thanks for saving me from starvation, I keep forgetting to come by the Pantry and pick up stuff," Katty offered and attempted to diffuse the obvious nervous energy and tension that Jessie had brought in.

"Yeah, sorry, I meant to bring you this a few days ago, I've just been busy," the other woman replied, and Katty wondered if she meant she had been busy avoiding her.

Katty waved her off and started to unpack the basket while Jessie hovered nearby. "Don't apologize; it's not your job to make sure I eat. Aaron and Eric feed me like I'm a stray cat anyways." She joked, and Jessie laughed lightly as she leaned against the island in the kitchen. She looked a bit more relaxed, and Katty was thankful that the awkward tension had dissipated.

"Do you have kids?" she asked, "I see Carl with a couple boys and a girl his age; I was wondering who they were."

"Oh, that's Ron, Mikey, and Enid. Ron is mine, and I have another younger boy named Sam," Jessie's face lit up as she spoke about the two, more so when she mentioned Sam. Katty half listened as Jessie prattled on happily about her younger child, a smile on her face. Sam was innocent to the troubles and new monsters that the world held, unlike Ron who Jessie mentioned had encountered them before. Jessie told Katty that she wanted to keep it that way, preserve Sam's childhood appearance as long as she could, even though she knew it was a hollow, fruitless project.

"It's not stupid to want him to be a kid, Jessie," Katty had protested, "It's understandable." And she did think that. Katty just chose not to vocalize the rest of her train of thought. That she also felt that ultimately, whatever childhood Sam had was nonexistent at this point, and ignorance to the world was akin to a warrant for death.

The two women shared an unspoken acknowledgment in the form of matching sad smiles. The air around them was quiet for a few moments as they both reflected on the youth that had been lost in the apocalypse. When Katty looked back at Jessie, she was studying her. Katty arched an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

Jessie's lips quirked upwards again, and Katty noticed it was a much less somber smile this time. "Do you want a haircut?" the blonde asked her randomly.

Katty's expression must have been baffled, for Jessie laughed. "I was a hair stylist – and other things – before all of this. I can trim your hair for you if you want," she offered casually.

The idea of having her hair cut and styled now was completely foreign and ludicrous sounding to Katty at this point in time. Katty wanted to laugh and say that she could probably find something more useful to do with her time than have a haircut, but she paused. Jessie looked hopeful, and Katty wondered if she was hopeful for a new friend and not necessarily to practice her cutting techniques. Katty remembered Pete and the woman before who had been lying on the ground, and she changed her mind.

"Yeah, sure, that'd be great," she said instead.

She had tried to subtly ask where Pete was while they were walking over, and attempted to keep the displeasure out of her tone when mentioning Jessie's piece of shit husband. He was actually down in the infirmary doing work for once, so Katty didn't have to find an excuse to leave without a haircut.

The normalcy of the Anderson residence both unsettled her and relieved her. Past the modern décor that had been provided to them, Katty noticed that Jessie had worked hard to add personal touches to the house. There were drawings on the fridge, attached by magnets, toys on the coffee table, custom made paintings on the walls and another half finished one situated on the easel in a windowed corner of the open concept room.

"Your art is lovely," Katty commented genuinely. It was nice to see someone still found beauty in the world; enough to drape colour across a canvas from it. Or had she been painting from memory? The large painting on the wall was of a sunset over a body of water, speckled with clouds and hues of blues and greens.

Jessie smiled at her appreciatively. "Thanks, I actually used to go to college for art," she explained. "I'll show you the sculpture Sam and I are working on after, if you want," Katty nodded in response, curious as to what it was of. Jessie gestured for her to sit beside the island in the kitchen while she set up.

Katty used to get her hair done every seven weeks by the same woman who had done her hair since she was eighteen. In the summer she would always either get highlights or an ombre, and starting in the fall she would go darker. Sitting in Jessie's kitchen now, in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, Katty thought it was weird that she still felt like it was cheating on her old stylist Jazmin.

Some things never changed; the small talk as the stylist snipped your hair was one of them. Jessie insisted that she was only going to do a light trim, that Katty's hair was 'too pretty' to chop all of it off. Katty was secretly glad that she didn't have to tell her not to take a lot off. There was a nonsensical, superficial part of her that didn't want to give up the last remnants of her old self; her long hair. Even if a short cut would be more practical.

"I saw what happened between you and Aiden yesterday," Jessie commented, and it didn't sound judgemental or condescending, but Katty still stiffened. The blonde seemed to notice Katty's discomfort, and she continued her thought. "I know he's Deanna's son, but he's a pig. Women shouldn't be treated like that, it's good that you know how to defend yourself."

"That's ironic," The words slid from her mouth before Katty had the chance to close it. She heard Jessie's breath catch in her throat and felt her hands pause on her hair.

"What do you mean?" Jessie's voice was quiet, uncertain, and carried a defensive note. It pulled at Katty's heartstrings and she hesitated. She couldn't do it, not like this. She had known Jessie for maybe an hour and a half, Katty didn't have the right to say what she wanted to her. Even if her heart was in the right place.

"Just that the majority of people living here, other than Rick's group, have no idea how to defend themselves. Just funny you say that," she said, and censored herself for the second time with Jessie that morning. This was off to a rough start, she thought.

Jessie let out the breath that she had been holding, and continued to snip Katty's hair lightly. "Can't say you're wrong," Jessie hummed in agreement, "Would be nice to know though. Just in case the Roamers get in, right?"

"It's good to be able to defend yourself against the living, too," Katty commented, and she knew that Jessie understood the underlying message in her words. Jessie didn't respond right away, and Katty was afraid of an awkward silence, so she continued, "I was thinking of asking Rosita if she would help me put on some classes or something with whoever wanted to learn, just to help prepare everyone for the worst."

"I would go to those," Jessie replied immediately, and Katty smiled.

"I can't picture you sucker punching someone," Katty teased, and Jessie laughed as she finished up her haircut.

"Hey, I would have said the same thing about your skinny ass before I saw what happened yesterday," Jessie joked and pulled the white towel from Katty's shoulders. Katty quickly ran her hand through her hair and was relieved to find that Jessie truly had only trimmed the ends. It was still pretty long, Jessie had just fixed her straggly, uneven ends. It wasn't a Brazilian Blowout, Katty thought sarcastically, but she definitely didn't look like Hanson from Scary Movie anymore.

"Stay for a while," Jessie said and packed up the kitchen from her makeshift hair salon. Katty hopped up to grab the broom from the corner of the kitchen. "Boys should be getting back soon. I'll introduce you," she suggested, and Katty nodded. Jessie had chatted amiably about her two sons enough that Katty didn't feel uncomfortable about meeting them.

She swept and helped clean up for a few minutes, and then the front door opened and multiple voices filled the house. Katty recognized one as Carl's, and she grinned at the familiar face as he appeared through the white door.

Carl was one among a pretty girl, two boys around his age, and a younger boy trailing behind. Katty assumed that the youngest looking one was Sam, and had to fight to keep the surprise off of her face. It was strange seeing a child that actually looked their age, a face that hadn't been creased and worn from the stress of the world. She wondered if that had been how Carl had looked in the beginning of it all.

"Katty, what are you doing here?" Carl asked, surprised. The other faces stared at her curiously, and Katty tried not to notice how the unknown girl narrowed her eyes slightly in a calculating gaze.

"Jessie gave me a haircut," she brushed a hand through her shortened ends for emphasis.

Carl quirked an eyebrow as he scanned her hair, "It looks the same," he stated, and Katty snorted. Men.

She pretended to give Jessie a shifty look and cupped a hand halfway around her mouth to muffle her words. "I never said she was good at it."

Katty heard Jessie scoff and she laughed and caught the towel that was thrown at her. "I'm not opposed to shaving your head in your sleep, Katty," she threatened, but it was slightly less threatening with the smile gracing her face.

Katty blanched. "Please don't," she drawled at Jessie, "I'd look like Sid from Ice Age."

The four boys laughed and Katty thought she saw the other girl's lips twist slightly into a small smile. Katty wondered if she was distrustful or just shy.

"This is Ron and Sam," Jessie pointed at the two that Katty would have guessed were related to her. "And Mikey and Enid," she supplied as she gestured to the other two unfamiliar faces. They all muttered their greetings, and Katty looked at Enid as Ron and Sam spoke quickly to their mother about their morning so far.

Enid was staring at her passively, and Katty pondered what was going through her mind at that point.

"We look related," Katty commented dully at Enid, and Enid blinked in surprise at her. They really did. Brown hair, light coloured eyes, small build; Enid could have been her younger sister. All she needed was Katty's mismatched eyes. Enid didn't respond, just watched her speculatively.

"We're going to go play video games," she heard Ron tell Jessie, and then Enid decided to speak.

"I'm just going to go," she stated, her gaze fixed on Katty for another brief moment before she glanced at Ron.

"Oh, okay then," he replied, disappointed. Enid nodded at the boys and quickly turned and left out the door.

Mikey and Carl shrugged at each other and then followed Ron down the hallway. Sam was left standing where the group had been previously, and he looked dejected at being left out. Katty wracked her brain with a subject to distract the boy, when there was suddenly another knock at the door.

Jessie glanced over to the door and then turned towards Sam quickly. "Why don't you go show Katty the sculpture we were working on? She said earlier she wanted to see it," Jessie prompted the younger boy, and he looked over to Katty hopefully.

Katty nodded and smiled at Sam. He was innocent looking and Katty really didn't like the sad expression painted across his young features. She had a soft spot for kids.

"Okay, c'mon, this way," he cheerfully beckoned her forward and quickly walked towards another door. Sam opened it to reveal their garage, and Katty vaguely heard Jessie open the front door and start to chat with whoever was there.

The sculpture stuck out like a sore thumb in the garage, and Katty immediately walked towards it, leaving the door open. It was constructed of random metal odds and ends, and had a few distinguishing features that allowed her to guess what it was. Tool handles around the bottom of it resembles talons, and sheets of metal lain across each other, pleated in a way to look like feathers.

"Is it a bird?" She guessed, and Sam nodded, excited.

"An owl," he corrected, and strode forward towards the statue. He started to explain the different parts of the owl, why they had chosen which materials, and which he had helped attach. Katty half listened to his explanation, but smiled at the boy, asking questions in a prompt to keep Sam talking. She liked seeing a child excited about something, even if it was trivial in this day and age. There was too much sadness in this world.

"I like your accent," Sam complimented after a while, and looked at Katty. His expression was suddenly more serious than it had been previously, and Katty furrowed her brow in confusion. "I've heard you talk before," he admitted, and she was muddled as to why he sounded nervous and shy suddenly.

"And where did you hear me speak before?" She asked him. Jessie and her family had been here for a long time, so she doubted that she had met the boy before.

"I heard you talking to my dad. I was upstairs," Sam was frowning at his feet now, and Katty fixed a steady gaze on him as she waited for him to continue. Katty wasn't sure where this conversation was going, if the child was going to accost her for speaking to his father in that way or not.

"You're not scared of him," he looked up at her and his expression was a mix of being incredulous and jealous. Sam's eyes searched hers as she took in his words. Her heart dropped, and she tried to keep her expression neutral, not full of sympathy like she wanted. Everyone in his family was scared of Pete; it was odd to the boy that she had come along and stood up to him.

"No, I'm not," she responded firmly. Sam stared at her for a while and chewed his lip.

' _I am,'_ his eyes said, and Katty wanted to hug Sam and scream and hit something – someone – and tell him it was going to be okay. But she didn't. She just stood there and looked for her words in useless places.

"Are – are you scared of those things?" Sam continued inquisitively, searching for something in her. "The _monsters_?"

"No," she replied honestly. Katty wanted to lie and say she was. Try to connect with him, find a similarity in a world where simple connections mattered immensely between people. Between survivors.

"I am," he replied quietly, this time with his mouth and not his eyes. Sam looked ashamed of his fear, and Katty frowned at him.

"Most people are," she supplied kindly. It wasn't cowardly to be afraid of something that would tear you apart or turn you into one of them. Fear kept you on your toes.

"Why aren't you?" he frowned back at her, and Katty knew he was looking for a way not to be afraid. An answer, a solution to fear. She felt bad that she didn't have one for the younger boy, and contemplated briefly what to tell him. In the end, Katty thought she should be honest in a way that Sam could relate to.

"Because I've found that the scariest monsters are the ones that are still alive."

Sam mulled over her answer and nodded to himself before he approached Katty with one last question. "What are you afraid of then?" he asked curiously, and Katty didn't have to think particularly hard to come up with an answer.

She thought of the first Biter attack that she had experienced, in the beginning when her small camp of people had been torn apart, along with her boyfriend. She had been the last one standing, and Katty would never forget that day or that feeling. Her thoughts drifted to Woodbury, being kept alone in the dark room. And finally, Calum's face flashed through her mind; the last time she saw him. The grim, serious expression on his typically grinning mug as he shoved her into a hiding spot from the herd and took off to find another. She hated that that was the last memory she had of him. The months after that were hard. And she hadn't realized how much she needed the presence of people, until she got to Alexandria.

"Ending up by myself again. I'm scared of being alone," she said thoughtfully as she stared at the metal face of the owl.

Owls are odd. Their symbolism is even odder. Wisdom, intuition, and the ability to see through deceit and masks. That was typically what people chose to recognize them for. Traditionally, the owl as a spirit animal was represented as the announcer of death, a life transition. Katty tried not to recognize the irony of masks and death in her current situation and pondered which one of these meanings would apply to her time in Alexandria.

"Sam, Katty; Carol's here," Jessie said quietly behind them, and Katty flinched slightly. Turning around to face both women, it was obvious that they have both been standing in the open doorway for a while.

Katty's eyes flicked between the two for a while, and then she gestured back towards the sculpture. "The owl is top, Jessie. Sam explained the parts and everything to me," she smiled over to the younger boy, who appeared deep in thought.

Jessie grinned and walked over to clasp a hand over Sam's shoulder. She said something, but Katty wasn't listening. She was wondering if the owl sculpture had nothing to do with her, and represented a dark change for the Anderson family. Katty glanced at the innocent face of Sam and stopped herself from her finishing her next thought.

"Katty, I figured you could come around with me to the different houses and check in on a few people. Meet some fresh faces," Carol offered with a smile. She was wearing another sweater that didn't suit her again, and Katty couldn't figure out why exactly it didn't. She didn't know her before the end of the world, who was she to say what Carol's style should be? There was something off about the older woman, though, that was for sure.

"Sure," she shrugged at Carol, not really having anything else to do. It wasn't a hard decision. It was still morning, and Deanna's task of meeting people still rang in her mind.

Katty bid both Jessie and Sam goodbye, and followed Carol outside. Katty didn't miss Sam's curious glances at Carol or the fact that Carol had all but ignored the boy. Weird.

"He needs to toughen up or he won't make it," Carol commented in a matter of fact tone as they walked away, and Katty glanced over to her. She agreed, but she hadn't wanted to utter the words aloud.

"He's Jessie's vice," Katty noted, "She won't lightly take away the childhood that he has left. It's a last ditch effort at protection."

"Well, it's not doing him any favours," Carol snapped. Katty thought that through the irritation, Carol seemed to conceal an underlying message of emotions. Was it designed from experience?

Katty was silent for a while as she deliberated whether to ask her question or not. She chewed her lip and decided to take a chance. "Have you lost a child, Carol?"

Carol stopped her pace and turned to Katty. Her eyes scanned her face, a hard expression on hers. Katty wasn't sure what she was searching for, but she seemed to either find it or give up and sighed.

"A long time ago. Her name was Sophia and she was twelve." She explained tersely. How awful for a mother to have to speak about her child in the past tense, Katty thought sadly. Carol's eyes gained a far away look as she remembered her child, before she looked at Katty with narrowed eyes. "Did Daryl tell you?"

Katty didn't know how to take that question. Why would Daryl tell her? Was he Sophia's father? Katty remembered her infatuation and suddenly felt guilty. She was still unsure if Daryl was involved with Carol, but though she was curious, it wasn't her business to pry into their private life. Neither of them liked sharing much, it seemed.

"No, was he meant to?" Katty tilted her head at Carol, unsure how to proceed in the conversation.

"No, he just –" Carol sighed and considered her words carefully for a moment before she started her sentence again. "When Sophia got lost, Daryl was really invested in finding her. You two talk a lot, so I wasn't sure if he mentioned anything."

"We don't talk a lot," She pointlessly responded. Katty shook her head and raised her eyebrows at the woman's explanation. "I'm sorry for your loss, Carol. It must be difficult to see children here."

"No," Carol denied, "It's fine. Like I said, it was a long time ago." Katty thought that Carol was experienced and proficient in putting up a strong front, but Katty didn't have to be a mother to guess that the other woman would probably carry around her child's death for her entire life.

"Can I ask you something odd, Carol?" Katty murmured after a moment of hesitation. The other woman stopped walking to fix her with a curious stare, prompting her to continue.

"Were you a cop?"

Carol's light eyes widened in shock before she let out a surprised laugh. "No, why would you ever say that?"

Katty no longer bought the defenseless housewife act, and Carol's dismissive laugh only perked Katty's interest more. She decided to push Carol a bit further and try to gauge her reaction. She glanced around to make sure no one was listening to them as she voiced her thoughts.

"You watch everyone when you're out walking with Judith. You make notes and sometimes add mapping details to that little notebook you have when you think no one's looking. Rick and Daryl talk to you, and it's easy to tell that they _really_ respect your opinion when they do –"

"I'm just being careful. And I've been with them since the beginning," Carol dismissed easily, and Katty noticed she didn't meet her eyes. "They protect me, and I do the cooking and sewing, it's not –"

"I don't doubt that they would do anything to help their family," Katty cut her off, and she grinned at Carol, bouncing her eyes between both of the other woman's. This almost felt like a game, trying to catch her off-guard and make her slip up. "But they don't look at you like you _need_ protecting. They aren't worried about you, Carol. I think there's a reason for that, and I think that you're entirely more self-sufficient than you let on."

Carol looked amused at Katty's long trill of assumptions, and she let out a short laugh as she rolled her eyes and started walking again. "Well, Katty. I can assure you that I definitely wasn't a cop before the end of the world, I was a housewife, even if you think I'm lying."

Katty followed closely beside her, and she replicated the teasing note that Carol had sent her way. "I don't think you're lying about being a housewife before," she countered, "I just think that you're so much more than that now," Carol opened her mouth again to respond, and Katty quickly continued. "I think it's smart, to appear unimposing in a foreign place. I'm not going to say anything to anyone, Carol," she added seriously, and sent Carol a small smile.

"We all have secrets, even you, Katty," Carol started, and Katty felt her stomach clench nervously. She wondered how much the woman had noticed about her, how much Katty had unintentionally let slip. "Enough about me, though," she was smiling at her, and Katty attempted to breath deeply to sooth the knots in her abdomen.

"I'm curious about the friend that you lost," Carol asked gently, and Katty gulped, hoping that she wouldn't cry talking about him.

"Calum," she said softly. "He's still alive, we just got separated," she explained confidently, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was still breathing somewhere.

"What makes you so sure? It's been months since you've seen him, right?" Her eyebrows were raised and Katty tried not to read Carol's expression as pitying. It would just annoy her if she did.

"He just is," she shrugged. "Calum was _designed_ for the apocalypse. His dad taught him about weapons, firearms, and survival. His mum worked at the CDC in Atlanta before and during the lockout." She noticed that Carol's attention snapped to her more intensely, and Katty sent her a questioning look.

"What do you mean, _before_?"

"Project Wildfire was announced 131 days before the official day zero. There was room, so Calum's mum moved herself and Calum into the CDC up until about two weeks after the start of it all. They all had different areas there, but his mother was heavily involved in the etiology of Wildfire. They gave up and vacated when most other people did. His mum got bit, and shortly after he ran into me."

"Does he know what caused it?" she asked quickly. Katty had Carol's full attention, and she smiled sadly at the older woman.

"It's all just theories. Might as well be folklore at this point. Calum collaborated his mum's research with a man named –" her voice got caught in her throat briefly, but Katty forced herself to cough and continue. "A man named _Milton_ in Woodbury. Calum would be better at explaining it, if he was here," she finished sadly.

"So how did he run into you?"

"Calum found me after we got bit and taken over by a herd outside of Atlanta –"

"Why do you say it like that?"

Katty started, and her eyes snapped back to Carols. She was looking at her with a narrowed expression, inquisitive eyes and a tight mouth.

"Say what?"

" _We_ got bit and taken over," she repeated. "You said the same thing at dinner a few days ago."

Katty made sure she met Carol's eyes levelly as she quirked a brow at her. "How else would I say it. My entire group was slaughtered. I was the last one," she tried to keep the irritation out of her voice at the pointless question. Carol nodded briefly at her, but her expression still held an unasked question.

"Anyways," Katty continued, "that's how I know he's alive. He's a hell of a lot more capable, strong and smart than I could _ever_ be. He deserves to be alive."

"Katty, you're here. That's proof enough that you are capable and deserve to be alive," Carol retaliated immediately at Katty's proclamation, and Katty shook her head. That couldn't be more wrong.

"I'm not, Carol. I'm just some amateur player that's been dealt a good hand."

Carol frowned at her negativity, but Katty just ignored it. She was being honest. Katty knew that she wasn't as comparably strong or smart as anyone in Rick's group. Luck was on her side; it always had been. That was it.

"If you found him, would you leave?" Carol asked bluntly. Apparently she was done with trying to talk Katty up. She was thankful for that fact.

"In a heartbeat. I owe everything to him."

"What about Daryl?" the question had been casual and calm, but it made Katty jump like Carol had yelled it at her.

Katty chewed her lip for a minute as she contemplated what kind of answer Carol wanted. Was this a baiting question? "What about Daryl?" she parroted back, and looked at Carol curiously. The other woman didn't look annoyed or accusatory, but with Carol, it was difficult to tell.

Carol smiled knowingly at Katty before she shrugged innocently. "It's just nice to see him talking with someone other than our group. We had a hard time before we got to Alexandria, and Daryl especially has been closed off lately."

Katty remembered Maggie telling her about the people they had lost. Maggie's family especially had been torn apart; her father and more recently, her sister. They had also apparently lost another couple men around that time as well. 'Hard time' was an understatement, Katty thought. But then again, death wasn't exactly uncommon in this harsh, unforgiving world.

"I guess we're both playing poker with our walls, then. It's hard to trust people," Katty murmured quietly to herself. She shuffled her feet on the ground and contemplated how to change the subject; it was starting to make her antsy.

"Well, maybe it's time for both of you to fold."

Katty frowned at her Timberlands and then looked towards Carol, confused. What the fuck did that mean? She saw the brief flash of another knowing smile as Carol turned and walked away, and Katty pulled a face, irritated. She always seemed to know something that Katty didn't. Carol hadn't seemed angry with how often Katty found herself in Daryl's company, at least. Maybe they weren't anything more than close friends.

Carol led her back to the house quickly to pick up Judith before they went to visit the first house. Katty had been confused to as of why, but understood quickly once the elderly couple answered the door. Bob and Natalie Miller had fawned over Judith like she should have been by her own grandparents. In their long life the two of them had had five children and a total of twelve grandchildren, and countless stories about each. Their parental gift showed; Judith was at ease in their company, being passed and bounced between them and cuddled. They talked lovingly about how Judith and her older brother Carl reminded them of their own kin, and Katty found herself being thankful of their presence in Alexandria.

Some would definitely view the elderly as a burden in a world where you had to be quick, strong, and agile, but Katty thought that different ages, perspectives, and walks of life were important when rebuilding civilization. Everyone had something to add.

Especially Natalie, apparently, as she made Katty turn bright red when she told her that she had 'child bearing hips' and needed to 'take someone's seed' before she was too old. Jesus Christ.

Katty had spluttered and babbled unintelligibly while Carol laughed beside her. Bob eventually took pity on her and redirected Katty's attention away from her embarrassment.

"Do you want children, Katty?"

"I do," Katty immediately responded, and then paused. "I did." She corrected. It was pointless to think that she had the chance of having a family now. At one point, she had thought that she would have loved to be a mother. She still would love to be a mother, but she wasn't selfish enough to risk her baby and the people around her for the sake of basically a pipe dream. It was a set up for a tragic story, one that Katty could foresee the ending to.

"Alexandria is safe," Natalie said kindly. "You don't have to be scared to make a life here, Katty."

Katty nodded, but silently disagreed with the elderly woman. It was a nice thought, but unless Alexandria went through some major changes, 'safe' was not a word that she would utter in the same sentence as the town.

They ended up staying a few hours, and Katty and Carol took turns asking the Miller's questions about their lives and making Judith giggle. After going through the house and making a list of supplies that they would pick up from the pantry for them, Carol and Katty said their goodbyes to the couple and left with Judith.

"They're sweet," Katty commented as she pushed Judith in her stroller, and Carol hummed in agreement.

"They are," she acknowledged. "So, did they change your mind about 'taking someone's seed'?" Carol teased as they approached the house she shared with some of Rick's group.

"The hell are ya two cluckin' about?" a rough voice asked, and Katty glanced up at the porch. Daryl was standing there with an incredulous look on his face. He lazily held a cigarette between two of his fingers as he eyeballed both of them suspiciously, and Katty prayed that he hadn't heard what Carol had just said.

She felt her face heat up as she let out a quick, short laugh and Carol followed suit beside her. Carol quickly leant down and grabbed Judith out of her stroller before walking up the steps of the porch.

The woman paused when she noticed that Katty couldn't think of a response for Daryl, and turned to face the gruff redneck. Katty was thankful that Carol was going to redirect the conversation, rather than leave it to her.

"Something that you could help Katty out with, actually," she supplied before turning and sending Katty a grin. Before Katty could scowl at her, Carol retreated inside and left Katty awkwardly standing there.

Daryl reached a hand out for Katty to grab as she made her way up the steps. She smiled to herself at the lack of faith that he apparently had for her when she navigated up stairs. She took his hand lightly and tried not to admit to herself that she liked the feel of how rough and calloused his was.

Instead of dropping her hand instantly like she thought he would, Daryl led her over to the furniture set in the corner of the veranda before releasing her hand and plopping himself into a cushioned chair.

"What'dya need help with?" he asked casually, Daryl's blue eyes locked on hers.

Katty tried to keep from laughing and sat down in the chair nearest him. "Uh, nothing," she started unconvincingly. "Carol is just teasing me." She turned and folded her body in the chair so that she was facing Daryl with her legs crossed. It was for comfort and also so she could study him better.

Daryl shrugged and took another drag before he offered the lit cigarette to Katty with a mocking twist of his lips. It was a teasing challenge, and Katty couldn't bite back a smile at their joke. She didn't really want it, but Katty wanted an excuse to touch Daryl, so she reached out an took the half smoked smoke from him and made sure to connect as much of their hands as she could get away with.

She could feel him watching her as she took a more confident inhale from the stick of nicotine, and Katty felt her body slightly tingle. Daryl scoffed lightly when Katty didn't dissolve into a fit of coughs and gasping breaths and mocked a round of applause for her.

"Jus' need ta teach ya smoke rings and ya won't need me anymore," he joked, and Katty laughed lightly.

"I'm sure there's a lot you could teach me, Daryl," she drawled and purposely ignored the suggestive message of her words, fixing him with a sideways grin.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Stop," he groaned but Katty could hear in his rough voice that he wasn't serious.

Katty laughed and took another drag off of Daryl's cigarette before studying it. Bob and Natalie Miller drifted into the forefront of her mind, and she felt the smile slip from her face. She wouldn't ever need to quit smoking, she thought sadly. There wouldn't ever be a pregnancy to look forward to or a newborn to keep healthy. No prenatal vitamins, no swollen feet or diapers to change.

She thought back to her boyfriend at the start of the apocalypse. Tyler had been nice. It had been a new relationship, and honestly, she didn't care that much about him. Which made it worse when he died; she felt guilty that he hadn't been around people that loved him, just her who liked him enough. It was sad, though, to have a light snuffed out before it had a change to catch and flame. Maybe she could have loved him. Maybe they could have had a family, been happy, in a different reality.

Katty flicked her eyes towards Daryl, who was watching her interestedly. It was odd, knowing she would probably never fall in love, get married, or have a family. She wondered if Daryl ever had a chance to do any of that. At least Maggie and Glenn had started the list. Abraham and Rosita could be on their way, too, she thought.

She had apparently stared at Daryl for a minute too long, because when she went to hand the smoke back to him, Daryl took it but slid his hand to her wrist quickly. Katty snapped her mismatched eyes back up to his intense ones, and he studied her face briefly.

"What's wrong?" he mumbled at her with a frown.

Katty smiled at his concern, and he released his grip on her. She ran a hand through her newly cut hair and Daryl's eyes followed her path.

"It's nothing, Daryl. I'm just being a broody female," she dismissed with a joke and a smile that she hoped wasn't sad.

"Ya cut yer hair," he commented after a stretch of silence, and Katty paused to look at him with a surprised expression. It had evidently made him uncomfortable, since Daryl grouched a disgruntled sounding "What?" at her.

She just smiled and shook her head at the man that continued to surprise her. "Jessie did it this morning. I know it's dumb, I just –"

Daryl waved a hand in her direction. "Nah, looks good," he said, staring at the cigarette rolling between his fingers.

Katty refrained from making a big deal out of his compliment and composed herself. Inside, she may have been excited, but she just replied with a simple, "Thanks, Daryl."

Daryl grunted in response, and they fell into a silence. Daryl would occasionally pass the cigarette to Katty, and she would always take it. She wasn't exactly craving it, but Katty liked the spark that would appear whenever she took it from him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the curtain of the nearest window move, and Katty narrowed her eyes at it. Carol was taking a suspiciously long time to put Judith down for a nap. She had mentioned something about talking to Rick shortly, though, so Katty decided not to be too doubtful of Carol's intentions.

She was curious about Daryl, and she still felt the gloomy presence of her thoughts looming over her. Prying into his personal life seemed like a welcome distraction, and he seemed like he was in a good enough mood that Katty would chance the intrusion.

"Have you ever been in love?" she asked casually, and Daryl frowned at her, a quizzical expression on his face.

"What?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Katty repeated, and chewed her lip. She wasn't sure if he'd get annoyed with her question, so she added as an afterthought, "I haven't."

Daryl watched her for a while, and Katty felt his blue gaze running along her face once more. It was such a long pause, that she figured he held no intention to answer her question.

"Nah."

The monosyllabic word was short and low and Katty almost missed it, Daryl had spoken it so quietly. He was still looking at her, and Katty wished she had the power to read minds.

"What about that boyfriend of yours?" he continued, and Katty almost smiled at the forced casual tone of his voice.

"Nah," she echoed his earlier word. "Sometimes I feel bad that I didn't, but we weren't together that long." Daryl didn't reply, he just pulled another cigarette out and lit it.

"It's a little sad, though, isn't it? That there's a big chance neither of us will get the chance to fall in love," Katty clarified at the questioning look he sent her.

Daryl shook his head, "Love gives ya somethin' ta lose. Distracts ya, gets ya killed," he pointed out blandly, and Katty frowned.

"No," she disagreed firmly, "It gives you something to fight for and to come home for. It makes people stronger," Katty stated, and she firmly believed it. She wasn't sure what had happened in Daryl's life to make him think like that, but she hoped his opinion would eventually change.

He was looking at her again, and Katty was annoyed with herself that she still had trouble reading his expressions. Daryl made minute movements with his facial muscles, and Katty was still trying to memorize them. It might take a while, she admitted to herself as she stared back at him passively. She didn't mind staring at him as long as it took, though.

"I'm goin' out tomorrow mornin' with Rick and Carol," Daryl said suddenly, taking a hard right from their previous conversation. It probably made him uncomfortable, Katty thought. "So we won't go huntin' at dawn."

Katty felt the disappointment quickly creep up her frame and she tried to keep it off her face as much as she could. Admittedly, she had been looking forward to spending time with the hunter in his element. She didn't want to guilt trip him though or seem whiney, so she fought to keep neutral on the subject.

"Oh, alright," she stated, and inwardly winced at how dejected she sounded. So much for that plan.

Daryl snorted, "Stop actin' like I kicked yer puppy, girl. We'll go after I get back."

Katty felt her face brighten immediately, and she refused to be embarrassed at the amused expression on Daryl's.

"Sorry I took so long, Katty. Let's go," Carol rounded the corner from the doorway. Katty got up immediately and started to collect herself, and when she looked over at Carol again, she was shooting Daryl a pointed look. Glancing back at the redneck, they appeared to be having a silent conversation, and Daryl looked embarrassed. Katty tried to push the feeling away, but she was jealous of their connection.

It reminded her of how Calum and her worked together; they didn't need words to direct each other where to go or communicate what they wanted, a pointed look was all they required. Daryl and Carol made her miss that, and she felt a pang of loneliness alongside the jealousy for her missing friend.

"Katty?" She jerked back to the present moment at the sound of her name, and found that both of the aforementioned people were sending her concerned looks.

She forced a smile on her face, one that she hoped was reassuring. "Sorry, got lost for a second," Katty cheerfully explained and tried to wipe the negative thoughts from her mind for now. They would surely creep up, at night when she was trying to sleep, but Katty could at least try to ignore them for now.

"See you later, Daryl," Katty called back at him, drawling his name in her accent. She liked the small, almost unnoticeable response that she would sometimes get from him when she said his name. Daryl would stiffen slightly and sometimes his adam's apple would bob in his throat if she was watching carefully enough.

Carol tried to goad at her about Daryl when they got far enough away, but Katty ignored it for the most part. There was nothing to report other than her silly crush on him, and she didn't want to divulge that to anyone. They had enough material to embarrass her with without Katty contributing further.

The rest of the afternoon was basically spent meeting a few people and Carol catching up with random chatty women in Alexandria. It was perplexing to see Carol play the part of the unassuming housewife with the other women, and talk about trivial things and gossip that didn't matter. She introduced Katty to Shelly Neudermeyer, who had curly hair and fixed Katty with a sharp, judging gaze. Erin and Stacy were also introduced to Katty and were thoroughly pleasant with her. They talked with Carol about alternatives and substitutions for ingredients when baking, and attempted to include Katty in the conversation as well. Katty had a few ideas, but was ultimately unconcerned with their baking dilemmas, so she declined to add her two cents in the conversation.

She was still getting used to people having problems like irregularly shaped cookies and stale pasta.

Katty found herself fading in and out of every conversation that they pulled her into, and she knew she was being rude. Carol was kind enough and quick enough to save her from looking like a total asshole, though, and often cut in when she zoned out or prompted her to say something. She just couldn't force herself today, Katty felt like she was in a slump. Reminiscing on Calum along with the thought that she couldn't have her own family anymore; she just wanted to go to bed and wait to start her day over tomorrow.

Carol, observant and intelligent as she was, noticed Katty wasn't invested or even remotely interested, and made an excuse for her to go. Before she left, Stacy handed her a bag of clothing.

"Do you mind bringing this back to your house? I washed some clothes for Heath since he's out,"

Katty replied that she didn't know which room was Heath's, but Stacy just said for her to put it in one of the occupied rooms and the boys could sort it out when they returned. Katty shrugged and accepted the bag.

When she got back to the house, she glanced at the couple doors that she hadn't bothered to open before. Katty stood by what she thought when she first arrived and hadn't invaded their private spaces for her own curiosity. She didn't want to still, even though she had an excuse to. Katty just quickly picked a door at random and swung it open.

This room was large and a light grey colour, with a lot of wood accents strategically placed around the room. The bed was a smokey blue duvet color, with pillows painted different shades of grey and white to match. The covers were pristine; Katty would have tried to bounce a coin off of them if she had one. There were a couple of bare, fake plants that more resembled sticks than anything leafy and green. This room didn't contain anything personal or distinguishing, and Katty tried to picture the person that this room belonged to. Would Calum have liked a room like this?

She chewed her lip for a while as she looked around. Katty was lost in her thoughts of her missing friend once again, and sighed to herself. Dropping the bag of clothing unceremoniously on top of the pristine duvet, she quickly strode out of the room and shut the door. She didn't want to have to go in either of these rooms again. Katty decided to take a nap and try to forget about her negative thoughts.

How odd it was, to be in a town full of people, and feel so alone.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! This is the longest one yet, because I know I'm a bit late updating.

Next chapter will be a bit funnier, can't wait to start on it. Katty and Daryl go hunting. Wonder how that will go. Review and tell me your guesses!

-Submechanophobia


	9. Dove

Heterochromia Iridum

 **I reached 100 follows! That's not a lot compared to so many other stories, but I was pretty excited about it ahaha. So here's a quick update as a present. Whee!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Dove

It was still early, Daryl thought as he squinted up through the brush of the trees and at the sky. They hadn't been out there long, just to discuss potential plans and updates in Alexandria without the prying eyes of the other residents. It was laughable, the fact that they did so under the farce that Carol needed more gun lessons.

Daryl's lips turned up slightly in a smirk as he recalled the image of Carol in a pink floral printed sweater hitting headshots on every Walker in the area. They were originally going to take them out manually with their knives, but Carol had stopped and reminded them again that, like last time, she needed to actually use the gun to make it look like a lesson took place.

Carol had, again, offered Daryl a firearm that she had stolen from the armory. Daryl, again, had refused. He had declined the offer for multiple reasons; first and foremost because if he had accepted it, the gun would feel like a seal of approval that they would take Alexandria. Daryl was just now getting used to the idea of being a recruiter alongside Aaron, and he wasn't nearly as gung-ho as Carol and Rick were with the possible plan. Sure, they did what they had to do to keep each other safe. That hadn't changed, and Daryl would do anything for the misfit family they had collected. But getting rid of the Monroe family almost felt like slaughtering children, considering how inexperienced the residents were.

After all the fucking people that had unnecessarily died, Daryl was foolishly hopeful that they could try to avoid anymore deaths.

They quickly talked about some other issues, too, while they were out. Daryl and Aaron had found another couple bodies strung up, all either painted crudely in blood or outright carved with a 'W' into their foreheads. Men and women, whoever was doing it didn't discriminate. They had been miles and miles from Alexandria at the time, so Rick wasn't too concerned. He felt that there were more important issues, than a couple off the grid whackos. It itched at the back of Daryl's mind, though, that something bad was going to come of it.

Glenn had also slowly started to take over leadership of the group of supply runners. Daryl had snorted at that fact.

"Finally," he grunted with an annoyed roll of his eyes. Aiden was a moron, and he had wanted to knock his fucking head off ever since his fight with Glenn, even more so since he had disrespected Kat like he had. She had put him in his place, but Aiden had still been sighted, sulking around, complaining at anyone who would listen about either Glenn or Kat. It mostly consisted of Nicholas, but some of the useless, gossipy women that Carol put up with would listen occasionally with sympathetic sounds and faces. It made Daryl grind his teeth and took everything in him not to shoot a bolt in his ass, like Kat had suggested a few days ago.

Kat was another story. Daryl pinched the bridge of his nose as they slowly walked back, thinking about the face that kept worming it's face into his thoughts.

"She's observant," Carol had said with a laugh. Apparently, Kat had called Carol out point blank about the lie that Carol had been living. It made him grin to himself, that she had been suspicious when everyone else had blindly accepted the mask. Shortly after, he had regretted finding the fact amusing, when Rick and Carol had turned their own amusement at him.

"You two seemed cozy yesterday," Carol had commented lightly, and Daryl didn't like the irritating smile that resulted on both of their faces.

"Ain't cozy with nothin'," Daryl denied instantly, the skin of his thumb between his teeth to cover the scowl that wanted to come out.

He still wasn't sure about Kat. Half of him wanted to avoid her. She was new and different and smiled too often at him for Daryl to ever be able to say he was comfortable. But Kat was easy to talk to and thanked him often for shit he wasn't sure he had ever been thanked for before. She reminded him to stay safe when he left out with Aaron and it wasn't nagging or whiney; Kat seemed like she genuinely wanted him to come back safely. She made him feel appreciated and important and always seemed interested to talk to him.

It didn't made sense. Daryl knew he wasn't even remotely a good conversationalist. He didn't get why she made such an effort to get him to talk. She was entirely too pretty to be interested in him, so Daryl supposed that it was just that Kat was friendly and didn't mind slumming it with rednecks like him. She had gotten along well enough with Merle, which confirmed his previous thought instantly. Daryl was annoyed with himself that it didn't bug him as much as it should.

It was even more annoying, how much Daryl liked her company. He liked sharing cigarettes with her, he liked how she said his name, and he liked how easily she blushed. Kat had an expressive face; it wasn't ever that difficult to tell what she was feeling.

"Seemed cozy, sittin' there sharin' smokes," Rick casually commented as he readjusted the stolen gun in the back of his pants. Daryl shot him an irritated look.

"What, now yall spyin' on me? Great," he snapped, and hoping that his irritation was covering for the red tinge on his cheeks.

Rick held his hands up in mock surrender. "Not spyin', brother. You two were on the porch in plain sight. Just an innocent observation."

Daryl made a 'tch' sound and stomped ahead a few paces.

"So, are you going out with Aaron again today? We should probably start marking off where those 'W' bodies are found, just in case," Carol mused to the other two. Rick hummed in agreement at the suggestion.

Daryl, however, cringed. He briefly considered lying, but figured when he got found out, they would be even more suspicious.

"Kat asked to go huntin'," he muttered, feeling defeated. He knew the two of them meant well and were just ultimately glad that he wasn't still moping around like he was when they initially arrived. It drained him though, the incorrect assumptions and innuendos. He wasn't sure if he was interested in Kat past the obvious lust, but the comments were just a reminder that she wouldn't look twice at him in that way.

Rick and Carol were silent behind him for a stretch, but Daryl could feel the looks they were shooting both him and each other. He rolled his eyes.

"Sounds nice," Carol chirped brightly. "Secluded, private, you get to show off –"

"Knock it off," Daryl groaned.

"We only tease because it's obvious she's into you," Carol sighed and explained patiently, as if she were talking to a child.

Daryl shot a scowl over his shoulder at Carol, and immediately disregarded her blatant lie. "Nah," he countered shortly with a wave over his shoulder.

Rick snorted. "You should see the way she looks at you."

It continued on like this for a while, and Daryl decided to tune them out. Kat was friendly and had an ability to make anyone feel like that. It wasn't different with him.

"You should teach her to shoot," Rick said, and the serious tone perked Daryl's attention. He slowed his pace slightly to walk beside Rick and Carol again.

"Ain't no teacher," he replied and quirked an eyebrow at Rick.

"Should start. The power is levelling out and goin' down, so Glenn's organizin' a group to head to a nearby warehouse for spare parts," Daryl nodded in acknowledgment, but failed to see how this had anything to do with Kat. She hadn't been out on a run since all that shit went down with Aiden, and he was glad for it. He could keep an eye on her in here.

"Alright, but what's that got ta do with Kat?" Daryl asked, fixing Rick with a level stare.

"Glenn said last night he was going to ask Kat to go with them. She's small, fast and –"

"Who else is going?" Daryl demanded with a growl. He knew he was being rude, but Daryl had a bad feeling about the run already.

"Glenn, Tara, Noah, Eugene," Daryl sent a confused look at Rick, which the other man caught. "Eugene knows what to look for," he supplied easily. Rick explained the potential timeline of when they'd go, and Daryl frowned to himself. It was around that time that Aaron and himself had planned another recruiting expedition, and they'd be either in and out often or gone altogether for a few days. He couldn't go and keep an eye on her.

"Nicholas and Aiden as well," Rick added carefully at the end of his explanation, and it almost seemed like an afterthought. Daryl knew it wasn't, as he glanced at Rick's face to see him cautiously watching Daryl right back.

Daryl took a couple deep breaths and tried to refrain from seeming like he gave too much of a shit about it. He ran a hand roughly through his hair and chewed the side of his cheek.

"Yeah, I'll try ta teach her."

He saw a funny smile lift on Carol's face and quickly turned away before either of them had the chance to send another teasing comment his way. He was quickly becoming annoyed with the idea of Aiden anywhere near Kat again, and needed to focus to avoid snapping at them.

Rick and Carol both seemed to realize the change in Daryl's mood, and backed off for the time being. They chatted to each other amiably for the rest of the short walk back to the front gate of Alexandria, and left Daryl to his thoughts.

Nicholas and Spencer were manning the gate, and Daryl shot a scowl at the former of the two as they passed. Fuckin' coward, Daryl thought angrily as Nicholas purposely avoided his gaze to stare at Rick and Carol. Spencer reminded them to return the gun that they had taken from the armory for Carol to 'practice' with, and Rick waved him off.

"I got it Spencer, don't worry," he called at the older Monroe son as they left in the direction of the houses. Daryl considered bypassing the main house and heading for Kat's to wake her up. It was still pretty early, and he had told her that they wouldn't leave at dawn anymore, so he assumed her to still be asleep.

The appearance of her sitting on the porch steps next to Glenn made him raise his eyebrows. They were sitting quite close, and Daryl clenched his jaw slightly. It was a knee jerk reaction, even though he knew there was no way Glenn had any interest whatsoever in Kat. The kid was head over heels for Maggie, always had been, and they still acted like a newly married couple. Daryl was thankful that they didn't live in the same house as him, and that he didn't have to listen to them fuck constantly anymore. He scoffed, remembering the countless times at the prison, when they would either try to be quiet and failed, or would sneak off together.

Still, the sight of Kat and Glenn, sitting beside each other, knees touching and laughing loudly, made his eye twitch. Daryl hadn't made her laugh like that before. He vaguely remembered Maggie complaining playfully to Glenn that Kat and her husband had the 'same awful sense of humour', so Daryl conceded that this was probably nothing new to anyone.

Daryl didn't mind Kat's humour, he thought to himself. It was odd, having someone around who was still able to crack jokes in the dreary, sad life of the apocalypse. It was a welcome change.

The two of them noticed their approach, and Glenn waved lazily at him, Rick and Carol. Kat wiggled her fingers in an awkward wave, and Daryl felt his stupid heart speed up when he noticed Kat's eyes locked on him.

" _You should see the way she looks at you,"_ Ricks words replayed in his head and he flicked his gaze over Kat's face quickly. It didn't look anything special to him. There was no smitten, cross-eyed with love look that Maggie always stared at Glenn with. She looked happy, but then again, that was normal for her.

Other than yesterday, Daryl reminded himself. Kat was slightly out of it yesterday, and had attributed it to her being a 'broody female' as she had put it. He had been caught off guard when she asked him if he had ever been in love, and even more so when he found himself responding honestly to her instead of grouching an avoidant response. Daryl had also been surprised when she admitted she didn't love that guy she was with at the beginning of it all. Most of the women that he knew, even before the apocalypse, were quick to declare their love. Not to him, but he heard a few women tell Merle that exact thing the morning after his one night stands.

"I'm jus' that good, Darylina," Merle would taunt.

Glenn and Kat both got up to greet them, and Daryl swept his eyes down Kat's form quickly. She had gained a few pounds since she had been here, and it looked good on her frame. Her breasts almost looked too big for whosever bra she had borrowed, and those black jeans she always wore were starting to fit her better. Daryl remembered appreciating the shape of her ass a bit more than usual yesterday as she walked away with Carol, and rubbed a hand across his face to try to clear his mind of the image.

"Good morning, loves," Kat drawled lazily in her mellow accent. Daryl felt a short chill run up his spine at the greeting. Fuckin' British people.

"Mornin' Katty, Glenn," Rick nodded at them both.

"How'd you sleep?" Carol asked Kat. Her eyebrows shot up, and Carol continued. "You were out of it yesterday, thought you might have been tired." So he hadn't been the only one to notice the difference in Kat, Daryl thought interestedly.

Kat reached a hand and scratched the back of her neck. "I always have sleep problems; nothing new," she waved off in a dismissive motion. Daryl frowned slightly at the new information. He wondered how bad exactly these 'problems' were. "I just didn't want to chin wag with those women much longer, sorry Carol," she added with a grin. Glenn snorted and Carol nodded in an understanding way. Daryl was just wondering what the fuck a 'chin wag' was.

"Where did you lot get off to then?" Kat inquired and flicked her eyes between the three of them. Daryl thought she sounded especially British this morning, and a small voice taunted that he liked it better.

Carol twirled the handgun around her fingers in view of Kat. "The boys were helping me get used to firing a gun. It still scares me, but the early morning lessons help a lot," she explained in a well rehearsed lie.

Kat sucked her lower lip briefly in between her teeth as she looked over Carol for a moment. Daryl had heard about Kat basically confronting Carol yesterday, and was curious how this would pan out.

"Interesting, because you look right at home holding it, Carol," Kat observed as a smirk slid onto her face. "Almost as if you'd been using guns for a few years now."

Beside Kat, Glenn screwed up his face as he attempted not to laugh. Daryl bit the inside of his cheeks again and he heard Rick clear his throat. He glanced at Carol to gauge her reaction.

Carol was smiling slightly, but declined to give anything away. "Well, I'm used to other people firing them, just not me," she countered. It almost looked like a game between the two at this point. Carol and Kat both had matching amused and skeptical looks painted on their faces, and neither seemed to be intent on giving in.

"Ah, I see. Makes sense," Kat clipped at Carol, who responded with a nod.

"Right. Well, I'm sure you and Daryl want to get going, so I'll just go see if Judith is up yet," Carol supplied and stepped away from Daryl's side. "Rick, you coming?" she turned to him expectantly.

Rick glanced at Daryl, amused. "Yeah, I should see what Carl is going to do today," he excused himself, leaving Daryl standing there, facing Kat.

Glenn stepped back a few paces to be in line with the other two traitors.

"Don't forget to wear protection."

The reminder was spoken in such a serious tone, it made both Daryl and Kat gawk at Glenn, completely slack jawed.

"Katty has to grab her gun from the armory still," Glenn clarified, and Daryl felt his fingers twitch as the instinct to strangle the younger man appeared in his brain.

"Oh, here, take this one," Carol quickly supplied, and handed her gun to Kat. Kat took it gingerly, the stunned look still evident on her face.

"Okay, see you two later," Glenn waved them off and the three of them turned and walked up the steps to the house. Carol looked over her shoulder at them both with a grin, and Daryl scowled. Couldn't have made it more obvious they left to talk about them, could they?

The scene had happened so fast, that neither of them thought to be embarrassed until now, when they were alone. Daryl, who had been teased all morning, didn't really care at this point. He was delighted when Kat's face flared up though. She was prettier when she blushed, he admitted to himself with a smirk.

"Ya ready?" he asked and gestured to her backpack on the ground behind her.

"Uh, y – yeah," she spluttered and quickly turned around to grab the forgotten bag off of the ground. Daryl noticed she had her knives strapped to her thigh and the other machete hanging off her hip again. Her face was still red when she turned around, and Daryl found that he couldn't hold back the mocking grin he reserved for her.

"Never knew how red yer face could get," he snorted a laugh at her.

Kat laughed, embarrassed, "Shut it," she groaned. "You can't tell me that it wasn't embarrassing for you at all."

Daryl shrugged, "What was embarrassin'?" he asked innocently, fixing her with a cocked brow.

She stared at him incredulously, and then shook her head, stunned. "You suck," she laughed lightly.

They started to walk back in the direction of the gate. "Don't get yer panties in a bunch, girl. 'Sa joke," he chided, heading towards his bike sitting along the wall.

"I know," Kat responded, sounding more calm and less embarrassed. "Plus," she continued, "Who said I was wearing panties?"

Daryl, usually graceful on all terrain, stumbled on his own two feet slightly and stopped walking altogether in order to stare at Kat.

What. The. Fuck.

"The fuck?" He found his voice finally, and narrowed his eyes at Kat. Daryl could feel a blush creeping up on his face.

Kat had continued walking when he had stopped, but now she slowed her pace and turned to look at him. "Never knew how red yer face could get," she mocked in his accent, and Daryl rolled his eyes. It was a pretty good imitation, not that he would ever tell her that.

"What'd I say 'bout doin' that voice?" Daryl grouched at her as he tried to regain his composure. How did Kat turn the tables so quickly; less than a minute ago she had been the one embarrassed and he had been laughing at her. Unbelievable.

"Right, I forgot. You're the only one allowed to have a sexy accent," She reaffirmed to herself and continued walking. Daryl inwardly groaned as he rubbed the new blush off his face. She was in a playful mood, and he silently signed a prayer to a god he didn't believe in. Seeing that he would surely die today, maybe he should start believing.

"We ain't walkin'," he called at her as she strode towards the gate importantly.

Kat dumbly turned around to see Daryl loading his bag and crossbow on the side of the bike so that there would still be room for Kat on the back.

"Oh, ok," was the simple reply and Kat trotted over. Daryl glanced at her apprehensively.

"Ya ever been on one before?" The last thing he needed was her freaking out on him.

"Used to have one back in California," she stated, "It was like a crotch rocket though, just easier to drive and park on the street and stuff," Kat explained at Daryl's surprised look. "Nothing like this."

Daryl grunted. "Same thing, basically." He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye, and wondered why she looked nervous if she had been on a bike before. He shrugged and hopped on the front of the bike, immediately regretting his decision to do so after he felt Kat slide on behind him. She shuffled around a bit, rearranging his stuff on the side so she was more comfortable, and Daryl visibly tensed. Kat was practically grinding behind him and Daryl felt his body respond in _very_ inconvenient way.

"Stop movin' so much, we'll tip," he snapped, irritated at himself and her at this point.

"We're not even going anywhere yet," Kat snarked back at him over his shoulder. "I'm just trying to –"

Daryl rolled his eyes and kicked the bike to life. Kat squeaked a girlish noise and Daryl barked a laugh, the sound of the engine covering it.

"Ya gotta hold on," he said, an impatient tone to his voice that made Kat scoff. She didn't make any move to hold onto Daryl, so he jerked the bike forward shortly. Kat snapped something that he assumed was rude and encircled his waist with her arms. She had to scoot forward slightly to be able to do so, but Daryl noticed Kat felt stiff and awkward still; all her muscles were tensed from what he could tell and she was leant away from him.

"Won't the noise scare everything away?" she called out to him from behind.

Daryl turned his head slightly so that she could hear his reply. "No game nearby, gonna drive out some and then we'll walk," he explained, and pushed the bike forward easily while Spencer pulled the gate open for them.

It took about ten minutes of driving before Kat finally relaxed. She was now completely pressed against him and had her face turned and rested on his upper back. Daryl still wanted to get away from her, but it was more comfortable then her previous tension. He actually hadn't minded riding with her. When he turned, she knew how to lean so the transition was seamless. Kat didn't seem to be scared of the ride, it appeared to be something else that had made her nervous, but Daryl was glad that Kat got over it. It made the whole thing less painful.

All too soon and not soon enough, they reached the point that Daryl had intended to start at, and he cut the engine. Daryl gracefully hopped off of his bike, and then glanced at Kat, who hadn't moved. He hesitated briefly before holding a hand out to Kat.

She snapped out of the daze that she had been in and glanced down at Daryl's outstretched hand. After she returned his grip, Daryl practically pulled her smaller form off of the motorcycle. His lips quirked slightly when he noticed how much shorter she was than him.

Her weird, different colored eyes were staring up at him and Daryl was reminded of part of the reason why 'Kat' was so much easier for him to remember, instead of 'Katty'. She reminded him of a feline, if he was being honest. Other than the few times he had seen her drunkenly stumble, Kat was lithe; agile, nimble and quick. She didn't stomp when she walked like a lot of other people, and even now, as Daryl was covering the bike up, he could see her making an effort not to snap twigs or stumble. Her stare especially reminded him of a cat, and he resisted barking another laugh as she cocked her head at him.

If she was a cat, did that make him a dog?

He swung his crossbow from his shoulder and loosely held it; Daryl didn't expect to run into anything for a while. Other than squirrels and probably Walkers, the noise of the bike would have scared off anything big.

They walked for a while and he had been pleasantly surprised at how quiet she tried to be. Kat didn't try to talk to him, she didn't hover too close or too far; she was just close enough that Daryl didn't mistake her for any sort of game or Walker. Kat weaved in between bristles and foliage, and Daryl was secretly irritated that she wasn't more disruptive. Then he would have had an excuse to be so fucking distracted by her presence. As it was, he had no reason to be so aware of her and anything that she was doing, the way she would run a hand through her brown hair to toss it out of her face, the quiet exhale she would do every now and then, how her hand hovered over her knife wrap around her leg like she was going to –

 _Thump._

Daryl started slightly and his attention snapped to his left. A squirrel was imbedded on the lower portion of the trunk, stuck through its chest. He frowned at it, annoyed he hadn't noticed it as quickly as she had.

Kat didn't say anything, and he strode forward quietly to remove the squirrel from the tree and chucked it at her along with the knife. She had offered the other evening to carry the kills, so Daryl decided to tease her and take her up on it. Kat had brought along a drawstring bag to shove what she could into it, and pulled a face at the dead rodent as she added it to the other two that were in the bag. Daryl had caught the other two, so he didn't feel completely shown up.

This went on for a few hours, and they hadn't found anything past a couple fat squirrels and a rabbit, all of which Daryl was thankful that he had caught. The last thing he wanted was for Kat to think he was incompetent.

Daryl froze as a familiar noise filled his ears; it almost sounded like a buzzing, and he turned quickly in the direction it came from. Kat was standing there, her eyes focussed on something in the grass, and he felt his heartrate pick up as he recognized what would initiate the rattling noise.

"Kat, get –"

Before he could finish his sentence, she had couched slightly and thrown both her arms forward to grab something and tug it towards her bent body. Daryl panicked and swung his crossbow away onto his back and drew his knife. The last thing he needed was Kat to get bit by a venomous snake in the middle of the woods. Daryl jogged forward with his hunting knife out and frowned in confusion when he reached Kat. She had somehow manoeuvered so that now she had one hand clasped over it's face and the other further down it's body. Daryl flipped the knife around in his grip and lunged to take care of the problem, but Kat had a different idea, apparently.

* * *

 _Crack._

She folded the snake's head dorsally over it's back, effectively snapping the rattlesnake's neck – spine – whatever it was. It was large, the end of it limply dragging on the ground as Katty shuffled the drawstring bag off of her shoulder to add the snake to the pile.

Katty looked up in time to see Daryl's stunned and annoyed expression.

"What?" she asked casually, huffing the bag onto her shoulder. It was full now with the snake in it, and Daryl narrowed his eyes at her.

"Ya could've gotten bit," he snapped at her. "Should've left it ta me."

Katty was a mixture of wanting to laugh and grouch right back at him. Snakes were easier for her to kill, as opposed to fluffy bunnies and friendly squirrels. She still would if she had to, survival was survival, but Katty felt better about grabbing the scaly hunk of meat instead of the furry woodland creatures. Daryl had obviously been concerned for her safety, but Katty also didn't want to put up with macho bullshit.

"It's dead, isn't it?" she questioned with a lift of her brows at the redneck.

"Yeah?" he sneered at her, and Katty bristled at his tone. "What d'ya think we could've done if it had bit ya," Daryl continued. "It's venomous. Ya could've died."

She resisted rolling her eyes, knowing it would just make the grouchy man irate.

"You could've _sucked_ out the venom," Katty pointed out jokingly, which only seemed to anger him more.

"This ain't a fuckin' joke, Kat," he hissed, and she felt slightly bad. Katty was well aware that when things got scary or serious, she often used humour as a coping mechanism or distraction technique. She always had, even before the apocalypse, and apparently the presence of Biters did nothing to dispel that lackluster quality.

She sighed, "Look, Daryl, I –"

A twig snapped behind and to her left somewhere and they both froze. The familiar smell of decay filled her nostrils and before she could react, Daryl had taken a few quick steps forward and pressed them both against the tree.

Katty was ashamed to admit that even in the presence of serious danger, with death and decay lingering as what sounded like five or more Biters ambling towards them, her mind was focussed on _other things_. Namely, the feel of Daryl's hard body slanted against hers, and the woodsy, masculine scent that was now covering her. It wasn't her fault; he had his arms encasing either side of her head, and there was really nothing she could do but angle her head up and stare at him.

The Biters grew closer and their groans and growls got louder, and Daryl instinctively moved closer. One of his legs was pushed in between hers and he pressed himself _hard_ against her and Katty let out a small, embarrassing moan. Daryl was leaning against the tree on either side of her face on his elbows now, and quickly moved his hand to cover her mouth.

Katty's head was still tilted upwards, and their eyes locked. Blue on blue and green, Katty gulped as she tried to read the expression in his eyes. They were darker than normal, and they made her stomach clench and churn excitably at the emotion that she refused to name. It excited her, and Katty could feel herself become wet.

She felt Daryl inch backward and away from her, and Katty was suddenly hyperaware of the stumbling dead that were still close by. Katty quickly reached out a hand and gripped her fingers around the top of his pants and his belt, pulling Daryl flush against her once more. The friction made her whimper, and Daryl pressed his palm tighter against her mouth. She tried to clench her legs together, but Daryl's leg was still snug in between hers so Katty only succeeded in grinding herself on his thigh. A string of curse words sailed through her mind as she bit the inside of her cheeks to resist making more noise. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

The noises from the Biters grew further away, and Daryl turned his head to the side to check it out. Thank god for Daryl's hand on her mouth, or she might have attached her tongue and teeth to his throat. The hunter decided the coast was clear, so he pried himself off of her and practically jumped away. Katty was left propped against the tree, wondering if her legs worked enough to step away.

"Ya alright?" he mumbled, eyes raking over her quickly.

Yeah, aside from my drenched panties and throbbing pussy, Katty thought sarcastically.

"Just peachy," she quipped, and winced when her voiced sounded slightly high pitched from nerves.

She watched him chew his bottom lip for a minute as he stared at her, scrutinized her with his eyes, and then shook his head slightly.

"C'mon, we're done," he muttered, and starting walking away.

"What, already? But –"

"We're headin' back some, where the area is more clear," Daryl interrupted, and Katty scrambled to keep up with his pace. He was still graceful and silent, even with the fast steps, and Katty fought to have a similar quality step.

"I thought there wasn't any game closer," she reminded, and Daryl tossed her an amused look over his shoulder.

"Ain't huntin' anymore. Gonna see how much ya really suck with a gun," he mocked, and Katty blanched. She was hoping she could charm Rick into giving her a few lessons, not Daryl. Glenn had talked to her this morning about going to a warehouse with the lot of them, and she figured she would need to brush up on her shooting before hand. Just in case. On the off chance that she ran out of knives and luck, Katty didn't want to be the reason that someone died.

"Aw, fuck," she groaned, and Daryl let out a short, rough laugh.

The walk back to the motorcycle and the ride back seemed entirely too short, and she hadn't even gotten to enjoy being pressed up against Daryl once again. Too focussed on her impending failure, she supposed.

Soon enough, they were walking again, and Katty reached into her backpack, the one that didn't carry the dead animals, and grabbed a bottle of water and a couple protein bars. She tossed one at Daryl before taking a drink and passing him the bottle when she was done. He grunted something that sounded like thanks, and Katty bit back a smile. Daryl was certainly gruff.

They came to a clearing with a wooden fence a distance away, and Daryl motioned for Katty to drop her packs. He downed the rest of the water and then walked over to the fence, depositing the plastic container on top of the wooden beam along with a few others that were on the ground there.

"C'mon then, let's see whatcha got," Daryl taunted as he reached her again. Katty rolled her eyes. She could already tell this was going to go over great.

Katty cleared her throat and grabbed the gun out of the front of her waistband. Raising the gun in what she hoped was a confident manner, but Daryl scoffed beside her already. She scowled at him, and he shook his head.

Katty yelped as Daryl kicked a foot between her legs, shoving her feet farther apart. He then wove a finger in her belt loop at the back and then put a hand on her upper back, pushing slightly.

"Lean forward a bit, helps with the kickback," he muttered behind her.

Katty shot a few times, flinching each time. In between shots, Daryl kept adjusting her grip or her stance, but his arm would always drop to string his fingers in her belt loop again. Katty wanted to blame Daryl for making her nervous, but she knew she wouldn't have hit the bottle either way.

It took a few more taunting comments and jeers at her expense before she snapped at Daryl again.

"Well, fucking show me properly, Daryl," she barked at him and ignored the narrow-eyed frown he shot at her. Katty stepped back and into his personal bubble once more before she grabbed one of his arms and then the other, trapping herself in between them. She shoved the gun into his hands and then waited.

"This ain't how ta teach someone," he grumbled.

"Nothing else has worked, just try it," she said, her voice less angry and more defeated sounding.

Daryl paused for another minute before he sighed and reached for her hands again. Putting the gun back between hers, Daryl covered her hands with his and pointed her arms properly once more. He muttered a few instructions in her ear and stooped down for a second to check her aim.

"Yer aims good, just gotta not flinch," Daryl commented, and Katty relaxed more since he didn't sound annoyed or impatient with her at the moment. "Relax, just breathe."

Katty was reminded of the breathing tip that Calum had given her over a year ago. Pausing at the top of her natural breath, and with Daryl's own pointers, she fired again. By some miracle, Katty didn't flinch or shut her eyes, and she watched the right most bottle disappear off the fence.

"Keep goin'," Daryl grunted in her ear, and his hands drifted off of her wrists and slid down to her hips. Katty resisted doing a stupid dance at the fact that she actually hit something that was relatively far away, and focussed on the next bottle. She repeated the same actions, and was pleased to see the next bottle down the line fly off at she connected with it.

Daryl squeezed her hips with his large hands, and Katty took that as a prompt to go again. She repeated the motion with the rest of the targets, only missing once more before they were all gone. Daryl hummed in approval before he left her side to stack some more targets. This went on for a while, her firing and Daryl replacing the bottles. Katty was nowhere near perfect; after the first round she basically missed half the time. But in comparison to before, it was a jump in improvement. She no longer flinched as violently and Katty was starting to get used to the recoil.

Soon, they both grew bored of the lesson. Daryl was laying in the grass, his head propped up on Katty's backpack. He occasionally had been calling corrections out at her, but for the most part, Daryl's attitude during the lesson had improved the same as her shot had.

"Should head back soon," he called at her, and she agreed. Katty's mood had improved as well, and she glanced over at Daryl. She wondered if her being playful would piss him off, but then again, she didn't really care.

"Maybe we should try a different stance," she commented, and Daryl raised his eyebrows at her.

Katty put a hand on the front of her pants to grip her crotch and then used her right to hold the gun sideways as she shifted her weight. She felt badass and entirely ridiculous.

"Stop fuckin' around, no wonder ya suck," Daryl chastised, but his voice lacked any bite that the words should have carried. "Think everythin's a joke." He grumbled.

Katty ignored the disgruntled redneck and shifted her stance once more. She pretended she had a second gun in her other hand and quickly drew both guns from each side of her hip.

Daryl snorted. "What was that?"

"I'm shooting from the hip and keepin' it real," Katty replied as she repeated the motion.

"Okay there, John Wayne, I think that's enough," She could feel his eye roll directed at her but just sent him a cheeky grin in response. Daryl wasn't exactly smiling, but the amused glint in his eyes was enough to satisfy Katty for now.

The energy between them was calm and amiable as they walked back to Daryl's bike after collecting their stuff. Katty kept knocking her shoulder into his as they walked, which Daryl would imitate every now and then. He didn't reciprocate the motion as roughly as Katty kept doing, but she could see his lips turned up in a smirk whenever they budged each other, even if he tried to hide it.

They were much closer to Alexandria than before, so the ride was short. It was late afternoon when they arrived back, and the people manning the gate had changed as well. Noah and another woman were on watch, and Katty waved at Noah as they passed. Daryl parked his bike next to the wall and the other vehicles, mumbling something about going to Aaron and Eric's later to fix a ticking noise he noticed.

Same as last time, he held a hand out to her and practically lifted her off of the bike. Katty could have gotten off without any help, but she wasn't opposed to having the hunter aid her descent from the motorcycle every now and then.

They chatted about everything and nothing at all while they walked the short distance to the main house. Tara, Rosita, and Maggie were standing outside between the two houses and waved at them both.

Daryl held a hand out to her. Katty stared at it blankly.

"Hand the bag over. I'll start cleaning 'em," he offered at her confused face. Katty nodded and slipped the heavy drawstring bag off of her shoulder and passed it to him.

"Thanks, you're a dove," Katty chirped at him, and because she knew it would piss him off, she swatted his butt quickly. The growl and murderous look that Daryl gave her in return almost made her laugh. Katty though, a woman of composure and grace, held in the laugh while he stalked off and into the house to presumably grab some tools or supplies. Or it might have been to just get away from her. Katty wasn't quite sure.

When the door shut behind him, Katty cackled to herself. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up to see Tara, Rosita, and Maggie, all in the same spot as before, gawking at her.

"What the hell just happened?" Tara asked incredulously.

Katty tried to keep a straight face as she walked over to the trio of women. "Hey," she casually greeted. "How's goes it?"

"What was that?" Maggie asked bluntly, a suspicious look on her face.

Katty shrugged innocently. "A friendly arse pat between friends?" she supplied weakly.

Rosita let out a laugh and shook her head. "You're nuts."

"What'd you guys do out there?" Tara asked, and Katty ignored the suggestive undertone in her voice.

"Some hunting, a gun lesson," she explained with a shrug. "Nothing super interesting."

"So he let you handle his weaponry?" Maggie asked, her eyebrows bouncing up and down.

"Sounds like a long, hard day," Tara continued.

Katty was now choking on her spit, and she wished she had something to throw at her friends. A rock, food to distract them; anything really. Rosita took her hand gently between both of hers. Foolishly, Katty looked at Rosita hopefully, waiting for her one true friend to save her.

"Come, my child, lets go find Gabriel," she said calmly, and Katty cocked her head at her.

"What? Who's Gabriel?"

"He's a priest. You need God after all that premarital sex, sinner."

"I fucking hate all of you."

The laughter that followed was an indicator of how long the rest of her day would surely be.

* * *

 **A/N:** Surprise update! I wanted to get this chapter out originally by this weekend. It made me giggle, so I hope you enjoyed it. Very Daryl-centric.

Please feed a writer and leave a review.

-Submechanophobia


	10. Thriving

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Daryl and Katty won't be together for a few chapters now, so hopefully last chapter can tide you over for a bit haha. I debated for a long time how to write these next chapters up until the Season 5 finale basically, but I think I've got it mapped out properly.**

 **Thank you to these lovely people:** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **TheHungryRainbow** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Steph** **,** **Guest** **,** **JenTen** **and everyone that added this story to their alerts and favourites.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 10: Thriving

Some words are fun to say. Especially short, monosyllabic words, ones with sounds that you can pop or roll off your tongue in a short reply.

" _Nope_."

Katty liked the word 'nope'. There were so many inflections and tones you could enunciate it in. A million ways to draw it out, jolt the 'p' sound in the four letter word. However, coming from Aaron in the current situation, it just made her pout.

Katty sighed and resisted making a whining noise at her declined request. She perched herself on the workbench of Aaron and Eric's garage and stared blankly at the two men in front of her.

"You can't miss your own party, Katty," Aaron explained with an amused expression on his face.

Katty scowled. "It's not _my_ party. It's just an excuse for everyone to drink and pretend there isn't dead people walking around."

Sure, she was being negative. Deanna had said she wanted to properly welcome and introduce her to everyone tonight. Katty, of course, was trying to find a way out of it and had asked Aaron and Daryl if she could tag along on their expedition. Aaron had, much to her dismay, immediately and plainly replied with the aforementioned 'nope'. Daryl hadn't even bothered to reply, he just let Aaron reject her and turned away from them both.

Katty attempted to stay out of the way as they both busied around the house and garage, getting ready to go out. Daryl was doing some last minute alterations on his motorcycle, and Katty took that time to watch him.

Her eyes lingered over his exposed arms as he worked on the bike, his creased expression showing how focussed he was on the task at hand. The memory of his arms around her yesterday filled her mind and she clenched her legs together and felt her breath catch as her throat closed up.

Fuck, he was attractive. Arm porn galore.

Katty cleared her throat. "You should build a side car so I can stow away," she suggested as a joke, which ended up being a thinly veiled attempt at distracting herself from his muscles. She resisted laughing out loud at the picture that drifted into her mind. Katty in a tiny, two wheeled side car as Daryl drove, both of them wearing comical goggles and scarves. Very Aristocats, she thought.

Daryl snorted and her brain popped back into the present moment. "Not a chance," he grunted at her. Daryl turned so that he was now facing Katty as he messed around with the motorcycle. She couldn't help but stare when he leaned over; she hadn't seen much of Daryl and was curious. Did he have a bunch of tattoos? What about chest hair? A discolored line of skin peaked out from under the top of his shirt, and it caught her eye. She couldn't see much of the scar, but it looked old. Not like any of hers, which the entirety of her scars and marks were acquired post-apocalypse. She wondered vaguely what Daryl's was from.

Her eyes drifted downward to her exposed legs and at the lighter colored, oddly shaped marks that graced her previously unblemished skin. She frowned at the gouge on the side of her left thigh above her knee. It was a scar that appeared in exactly five different places, one that made her scrunch her eyes shut tightly to try and forget how exactly she attained them.

Her fingers moved downwards to her knee and Katty traced the rough outline that was there. It happened during one of the training sessions that Merle had put her through. He had shoved her to the ground at some point, and then laughed at her when she wanted to stop so she could bandage her knee.

"Biters ain't gonna wait, Kitty Cat. Quit yer snifflin'," he had taunted. At the time, Katty thought she hated him. It hadn't been a serious, mortal enemy hate. More of a familial detest that you felt when your dad pissed you off or wouldn't let you have your way. It was strange, knowing that she had looked at Merle in some fucked up, fatherly way. Even stranger, she thought with a pang in her heart, knowing that he was now dead.

Katty glanced up with a start to see that Daryl was no longer working on the bike. He was stood a good few feet closer, wiping his grease covered hands on an equally as dirty rag as he watched her face carefully.

She wondered if Daryl would ever tell her how Merle died.

"Cheer up, Sunshine," Daryl called gruffly at Katty and then proceeded to throw the filthy cloth at her. Uncaring, Katty watched disinterestedly as it hit her arm and plopped on the table next to her.

"Be back in a couple days," he continued, and Katty smiled at his somewhat encouraging tone. "Not that long."

"I'll wait with bated breath," she drawled sarcastically.

Daryl's expression scrunched slightly. "With what?" he asked, and Katty couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her at his confused face.

"Nothing; just me being daft," Katty explained with a wave of her hand. She picked at the rag absentmindedly. "You two can't put off going for another day to save me from the party?" she asked in a hopeful, higher pitched voice. Katty knew she was being needy and probably annoying, but if it worked, she could forgive herself.

"Nah. Just gotta suck it up, Sweetheart," Daryl chided casually as he collected a bag off the ground and secured it to the side of his bike.

Katty's lips twitched. " _Sunshine_ , _Sweetheart_? Daryl, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being flirty," she could feel the shit eating grin on her face as she teased him. Since she wouldn't see him for a few days, Katty decided it was justified for her to badger him a bit.

In the end, it was just an attempt at making him squirm. Daryl hadn't been anything more than friendly with her, and the majority of her doubted that he was interested whatsoever. A small part of her, though, tingled at the memory of the look he had given her the other day when they were pressed against the tree. She was undoubtedly delusional, but the heat and intensity that simmered below the surface was still fresh in her mind.

Daryl scoffed loudly and turned away from her, "Ya wish, girl."

Katty wondered briefly if she was pushing it, but decided to continue the short banter.

"Maybe I do," she joked lightly, scratching her chin as she stared at Daryl's back, tracing her eyes over the wings on his leathered back. How ironic, she mused.

He visibly stiffened and Katty waited for Daryl to snap something back at her, a short, direct reply to shut her up. That's how it usually went between them, at least. His hand went into the pocket of his vest, however, and he didn't reply right away. Katty's brows furrowed as she watched him fiddle with something.

"Are you two just about done?" Aaron's amused voice sounded to Katty's left. He was leaned against the doorframe as he observed the two of them, and Katty cringed.

"Ready. Meetcha out front in a sec," Daryl retorted with busy hands as he rearranged and attached the necessities to the bike.

Aaron cast them both fake suspicious looks with squinted eyes and then nodded. "See you in a few, Katty," he waved at her before retreating back away from the door and into the house. He was probably saying a quick goodbye to Eric before he went outside.

Eric wasn't coming to the party either, Katty remembered with a scowl. Stated he had been to "far too many" of these parties to put himself through another. Katty wrote a mental note to herself to whine at Eric until he caved and went. If she had to suffer, so did he.

Daryl cleared his throat, and her attention snapped to him once more.

He was shuffling awkwardly, and fiddling once more with whatever was in his pocket. Katty quirked a brow at him, perplexed.

"Stay outta trouble, alright?" he finally said after another moment of hesitation, and he met her eyes for a brief second before they were glued to his feet or his bike, anywhere but her.

Katty rolled her eyes. "What trouble could I possibly get into _here_ , Daryl?"

"I mean it," Daryl said firmly, disregarding her previous question. "Stick by Glenn and Maggie or Carol or someone. Stay away from Aiden," at this, his eyes were levelly fixed on hers, and she couldn't find anything to do but nod at him. Daryl was being serious, and she didn't want to disrespect that.

He continued to watch her, and Katty realized that he wanted more of an affirmation than a nod. "Alright," she said simply, meeting his intense eyes.

Daryl went back to the bike without a word, and it was apparent to Katty that he was getting ready to wheel it out front to where Aaron was probably waiting. She slid off the wooden table that she had been perched on.

"Daryl," she called just as he started to walk away, out of the garage with the motorcycle and packs strapped to it. There were a few bags, and she assumed that Aaron had even more in the car that he had been packing. They were definitely prepared to be gone for a few days.

He paused his quiet steps to glance over at her, curious.

Katty found herself suddenly shy, but decided to spit it out before she lost the nerve.

"Stay safe out there."

The words were familiar and it felt like a mantra whenever she spoke them to him. It was like an unspoken ritual that she would tell him to 'stay safe'. Daryl never accosted her or rolled his eyes at the obvious reminder. Staying safe was all anyone tried to do nowadays, so it could have been seen as a stupid gesture.

But, like usual, he just nodded once at her, turned, and walked out.

Katty was left, standing in the garage, thinking about goodbyes and leather printed wings and half smoked smokes that she hoped they would share again soon.

* * *

It was early afternoon, and Katty was walking to her house to grab food before she looked for something useful to do. It would probably consist of either helping in the infirmary, going to Deanna's house to help with whatever plans her and Maggie were discussing or starting to implement, or relieving whoever was on watch. She hadn't been assigned a scheduled watch shift yet, so Katty had started to offer to take over a couple hours to whoever happened to be there. She would have to remind Rick or Deanna about that whenever she saw them next.

A flash of red and brown caught her attention, and she jerked her head towards the figure that had quickly passed by. Whoever it was, they were already out of her sight and Katty made the quick decision to follow whoever it was.

When she jogged, Katty made sure she was virtually silent. Running between two of the houses, she avoided the few twigs or rocks that were scattered along the path.

She came to a stop as she broke from the shadows of the two homes, and frowned at the sight in front of her. A person, presumably a girl, with long brown hair and wearing a red jacket tied around her waist, was climbing the wall.

Enid.

She climbed confidently, Katty noted. She had obviously done this quite a few times. Enid carried a number of what looked like white sticks or spokes of metal, sliding them into slots on either side of the support beam she scaled as she went. Katty scowled for a brief moment, reflecting on what she had thought about the wall during her first glimpse of it. Easily infiltrated.

Enid chucked her jacket over the top of the wall before slinging a leg over to the other side, and Katty decided to move. As soon as Enid disappeared, Katty started to climb the wall and utilized the foot holding spikes that Enid had graciously left for her. Unless you were looking for them, they were difficult to spot, so they worked well as a climbing aid.

Katty declined to put a piece of clothing over the wall, and carefully navigated over it as to not cut herself on the metal. She perched precariously on the slated steel beam on the other side, and shuffled her feet so she could basically sit on the metal. Katty manoeuvered both legs over to one side and steadied herself with a hand. She glanced around and saw Enid a short distance away, walking cautiously through the woods, and Katty carefully slid down the metal. She was still mindful not to cut her bare legs on any rough patches that may catch her skin, and took off as a steady, quiet pace in the direction Enid was going.

She followed at a distance and easily avoided any unnecessary noise. Katty ducked under low hanging branches and made sure to stay out of Enid's line of sight or anywhere close enough that the younger female may hear her.

It wasn't as exciting as Katty had pictured, unfortunately. Enid didn't appear to be going in any particular direction, she wasn't out to conspire with the enemy or give away intel. Enid wasn't murdering or pillaging neighbouring camps, and Katty was bored of trying to follow her quietly.

Enid paused, and her head tilted to the side slightly, and Katty froze. A groan and shuffling sounded to her right, and Enid immediately slipped between two trees and hopefully out of sight of the Biters. There were two, and they ambled past Katty, a distance away. She should probably pay more attention to Biters, Katty mused to herself. That was almost a close call.

The two did not appear to notice Enid, hidden behind a tree, and they took their time stumbling lazily in her general direction. An unfortunate, warm breeze blew by and Katty saw a wisp of brown hair float away from Enid's face in the wind.

It was almost animalistic, and Katty watched in wonderment. The closer Biter paused and lifted its face into the wind and she would have sworn that it had sniffed the air. It's own scraggly, oily hair drifted in the wind briefly as it turned its stiff head more in Enid's direction.

Move, Enid, Katty thought at the girl. She didn't. The two Biters grew closer to Enid, one moving with more interest, and the other simply following.

She waited another moment to see if Enid would make an appearance or leave, and then quickly pulled two knives from the wrap on the thigh. Katty barely aimed as she hurled the pointed blade towards the closest one's skull, and then repeated the motion with the other. The knives stuck in the back of their heads with a sickening noise that you couldn't describe as anything but an impaled skull, and both slumped to the ground.

Enid's cross face appeared from around the trees.

"I had it under control," she bit out at Katty, "and why are you following me?" Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously and Enid's tone was accusatory.

Katty strode forward, now unconcerned with being silent. She leaned down and removed her knives from each of the Biter's brains and cleaned them on the rag she had taken from Daryl before returning them to their place at her leg.

She scoffed, "What, it can't be a coincidence? I enjoy a good stroll through an undead infested forest as much as the next girl, Enid."

Enid just looked at her with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and disgust, neither of which Katty appreciated.

Katty sighed. "I saw you climb over the wall and wondered where you were going. Didn't have much else to do, as it seems, then follow a girl who didn't end up doing anything evil or even remotely interesting." The end of Katty's explanation took on a tone that almost sounded like she was personally offended from the lack of entertainment.

Enid didn't smile, but her expression wasn't as disgusted as before. In Katty's mind, it was an improvement.

She started to walk away, and Katty quickly strode to walk near Enid, almost beside her.

"Why is everything a joke to you?" Enid muttered, but she sounded more curious than angry. "How can you find anything funny anymore?"

Katty considered the question for a while as they walked.

"How about a trade? Honest answer for honest answer."

Enid turned to stare at her for a minute, probably wondering what Katty could possibly want to know.

"Alright," she said after a stretch.

"I was angry when the world ended, and I didn't appreciate the few people I had left. I didn't really look out for anyone but myself, didn't see past my own disappointment with life. Definitely didn't try to make anyone laugh," Katty chewed her lip at the memory, annoyed with how selfish she had been. "Then, people die, and you realize that you can't remember what they looked like when they smiled." She cast a small, sad one of her own at Enid. "Got tired of that, I suppose."

Enid didn't say anything, just looked at the ground as they walked slowly. She seemed to be considering Katty's words, and Katty wondered what the girl was remembering.

"What're you doing out here, Enid?" Katty asked softly, and Enid glanced up at her.

"It's just weird, sometimes, being in a house again," Enid replied, and Katty didn't react to the defensive tone. "I was on my own for a while, and I just need a break from it. From people. That's it, I'm not doing anything wrong," she pointed out, and Katty shrugged.

"You were alone too," Enid pointed out, and Katty wondered how much the other girl knew about her. "You're not worried about when the Walkers get in?"

Katty considered her wording, noticing that she said 'when' and not 'if'. "I am," she said simply. "But for Rick's group, I'd fight."

Her confident committal of arms made Enid stop and stare at her. Enid's expression was irritated, disbelieving.

"You haven't even been here that long. Why do you care what happens?"

Katty remembered their trade and considered ignoring the question for one of her own, but decided to humour Enid. She stopped walking to sit on a stump, deciding that they had walked far enough. Enid sat on a fallen log a few feet away.

" _Surviving is important. Thriving is elegant._ Maya Angelou," Katty recited, and Enid looked at her with a frown. "That's something that my dad said once to me. Everyone thrives in different ways, but I've figured out I need people. I was empty on my own." She admitted as Enid traced something in the dirt with a stick she had snapped off the horizontal log.

Katty watched her stick neatly spell out 'JSS' and pondered to herself what it stood for. Japanese Social Services, Jiggly Special Squirrels, Jesus Sings Songs, Jewish Sexy Sex.

"My dad used to always say, ' _Just Survive Somehow_ '. That's how I thrive, I guess," Enid said quietly to herself.

Ah, so she had been close when she guessed what it meant.

Katty thought it sounded like a bleak existence, but didn't voice that opinion. She wanted to ask what had happened to her parents, but inwardly, Katty already knew. It was probably a story that she had heard before, common in this cruel, unrelenting world. All the more reason to make people smile.

Conflictingly, there was a part of her, and she wasn't sure how large it was, that agreed with the message that Enid was hinting at. It's simpler on your own, not worrying or crying about other people. Not digging graves, not waiting for someone to betray you, not watching people get torn apart.

In Alexandria especially, where the people lived in a bubble of naivety, it was hard not to feel like you were counting down the days until tragedy struck.

Katty cringed to herself over her negative thoughts, and decided it was time to go back.

"Should probably head back, wouldn't want to miss my party," Sarcasm dripped from her words, and like everything else that was negative, she covered up her destructive thoughts with a joke.

She wasn't expecting Enid to come back with her, but the younger girl stood up and brushed her pants off. Katty was staring at her, and Enid looked at her with a quirked brow.

"What?"

"You have to admit," Katty commented, "we _do_ look related."

Enid rolled her eyes and walked away from Katty, who snorted and followed her.

"You're supposed to hold your sister's hand when you cross the street," Katty scolded her and tried not to laugh.

Enid didn't even turn around to reply. "You're more of a weird aunt than a sister."

Katty let out a noise that sounded like a badly wounded animal and clutched where her heart would be. Enid jumped and quickly looked around for Biters before she glared over her shoulder at Katty for being loud.

"That cuts so deep, Enid."

* * *

Katty hoped that they would forget about her and that the residents, along with Deanna, would be too drunk to care what she was doing. Especially since she had turned off the lights in the house and was sitting in the living room, doing nothing. Which is where Maggie found her, and proceeded to laugh at her. What a cruel, cruel world.

"What the hell are you doin'?" she asked her incredulously.

"I'm quite busy, Maggie. I don't think I'll have time to make it to the party," Katty called dramatically from her spot on the couch, staring at the wall. She threw her hand to her forehead dramatically and let out a sigh.

"Oh, no you don't. If I'm goin', you are too. Get dressed," Maggie clapped her hand at her twice, as if it would make her move faster.

Katty frowned at her friend. "I _am_ dressed," she claimed, gesturing to her outfit of shorts and a vest top.

"I brought you some nicer clothes. It'll make them like you more; those women _love_ to talk about crap like this," Maggie explained as she shoved the few items into her arms.

Katty grumbled something that was incoherent, even to her, and dragged herself into the downstairs bathroom to change.

The shirt wasn't much different. Just another vest top, but it was a great deal cleaner and in better shape than the one Katty had previously been wearing. She, however, grimaced at the skirt she had been given. It wasn't that it was ugly, just that Katty hadn't worn anything but jeans or shorts since the apocalypse began. It was short, black and made of a mixed blend of fabric. Wearing the skirt unsettled her, because it reminded Katty of what she wore when she was a server in California.

She walked out to Maggie's smirking face.

"Why aren't you dressed up?" Katty grumbled at her.

"Guest of honour wears a skirt," Maggie replied simply. She noticed the apprehensive look on Katty's face. "It'll be alright, Katty. And if it's not, we'll just get you drunk."

Katty snorted. "Words to live by."

* * *

And drunk she got.

The walk over to the Monroe residence had been short; they grabbed Glenn from the other house and went on their way. Glenn had informed them that the majority of Rick's group was in attendance, and not because anyone actually _wanted_ to go.

They explained to her that it was mostly to keep up appearances, and due to the fact that Deanna had requested they come. There was still an obvious tension between Rick's group and the residents, that neither side had done much to dispel. Katty had expected it to be awkward, assuming that the majority of residents would lump her in with Rick's group, especially since they were basically the only individuals that she talked to regularly.

Katty immediately grabbed a glass of something – she quickly sniffed it and assumed it was vodka and minute maid lemonade mixed – and started drinking. It wasn't good, but Katty didn't want to drink straight scotch like Reg and this would get her buzzed faster than wine or beer.

"Are we gonna find your skinny ass under the table later?" a low voice sounded behind her, and Katty turned. Abraham in all his big fuckin' glory greeted her.

"Anyone ever tell you you're built like a brick fuckin' shit house, Abe?" Katty asked conversationally.

Rosita snorted from beside him. Abraham looked amused and then reached over to clink his glass of scotch with hers.

"Drink up, girly. I'll put a pillow under the table; comfy as shit," he tipped her glass towards Katty's face before throwing his own drink back. Katty was foolish and accepted the challenge, only taking a few chugs to finish her own.

"Spencer is looking for you," Rosita bounced her eyebrows at her.

"Who?" Katty frowned, the name not really ringing any bells. Rosita pointed over Katty's shoulder to a tall man with shaggy brown hair who was making his way over to them. She vaguely remembered him during her first few hours here but hadn't seen him much after that.

"Good thing Daryl ain't here," Abraham noted in a voice that was far too casual.

Katty sent Rosita a withering look. She had heard more than enough of the comments from Rosita, Tara, and Maggie the other day, and had been unable to convince them that nothing was going on between Daryl and herself. That's great, now it's gotten around to Abraham, Katty thought.

Rosita raised a hand in defense, "Don't look at me, I didn't say anything to him."

"Don't have to be a bloodhound to smell the pheromones you two got."

"What the fuck does that even mean?" Katty asked through a laugh. Rosita was shaking her head at Abraham with an amused smile. Abraham opened his mouth to explain, which Katty wasn't sure she wanted to hear, when Spencer finally reached them.

"Hey, Katty," Spencer tapped her on the shoulder. Rosita let out a snigger and bumped shoulders with her as she and Abe left.

"Can I get you another drink?" he offered politely. Spencer didn't sound flirty or suggestive, so she shrugged.

"Not sure if I wanna get drunk and messy, actually," she hesitated after a short deliberation.

Spencer glanced over to where Deanna was standing with Reg, greeting people. "She's going to make a speech about you in about five minutes."

"Drunk and messy it is," Katty chirped after a quick cringe. "Extra vodka or whatever it is, thanks."

Spencer nodded with a laugh and went to grab her a drink. Katty looked around to see where everyone was. Maggie and Glenn had immediately left her and were off to the side, talking with Tara. Rosita and Abraham were sitting on some couch with Eugene and Noah, and Rick, Carl, and Michonne were nearby to where Deanna was, casually drinking and chatting amiably. Carol was in a group of women that she had been introduced to before and had the now familiar fake smile plastered to her face as she laughed at something one of them said.

Katty was looking around and attempting to plan a route that kept herself away from Deanna, when Spencer returned and shoved a drink in her hand.

"Start drinking, because I'm supposed to bring you over now."

"Say no more," Katty tipped the glass back and resisted coughing at the familiar burn of alcohol. "Fuck, how much did you put in here?" she scowled at him.

He shrugged and proceeded to clap her on the shoulder. "You said 'extra'. C'mon, mom's waiting," Spencer said with a hand on her shoulder to lead her.

Katty looked up at him with a scrunched face, "Aiden's your brother then?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, I know he's hard to deal with sometimes. He's not a bad guy though."

She didn't really believe that, but just shrugged and let Spencer lead her over to Deanna.

Deanna greeted her with exuberant, open arms. "Katty! Don't you look lovely. Come, come, let's introduce you."

Katty's first instinct was to run, but Deanna reached a hand out and clasped her wrist before she could, so she froze instead.

Deanna released her briefly to clink her glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention. There were quite a few people here, Katty wouldn't be surprised if it was everyone in the safe zone. There were people in the living room, kitchen, hovering around the staircase. Deanna and Katty were in the centre of it all, standing around the table in their makeshift dining room. Everyone quieted as Deanna clinked and shushed the crowd, and Katty squirmed slightly at the unwanted attention. Near the front door, she caught a brief glimpse of Aiden and Nicholas sneaking out with a bottle of something dark, and she tried to ignore it. As long as they weren't near her, it wasn't her business. Katty quickly chugged the rest of her drink to ease her anxieties.

Unhealthy, sure, but she figured she deserved a crutch considering there was going to be a goddamn speech.

"Hello, everyone, and thank you for attending this little soiree," Deanna greeted, her hand firmly on Katty's wrist again. It was like she knew Katty was a flight risk. "As many of you know, this was held to welcome out newest resident to Alexandria. You may have seen her before, maybe helping out on watch, in the infirmary, or perhaps knocking my youngest son around."

Katty visibly cringed and there was a twittering of laughter from the residents. She wasn't sure if it was from what Deanna said or from her uncomfortable face, but the loud laugh that Abraham erupted in relaxed her slightly. Or was it the alcohol. Did she really even care?

"This is Katherine Harvey, if you haven't crossed paths with her yet –"

"Katty," she corrected without thinking, and Deanna shot her an amused look.

"Right, Katty," she confirmed with a nod. "I wish Aaron and Eric would have been here to say a few words, since they've known her the longest, but I think that it is easy to see that Katty is an intelligent, helpful young woman and will help us make Alexandria even greater than it already is. She's helping myself and Maggie with agricultural plans and is going with the group tomorrow to fix our power problem." There was a murmur and nodding from the crowd. Apparently the key to winning their hearts was to make sure they were still able to blow dry their hair.

"Just watch out for her right hook," Deanna joked, and a few people laughed. "Alright, I'm done. Have a good time everyone."

Katty kept drinking. She was half aware of the multitudes of people that periodically approached her to introduce themselves, and tried to babble a civilized conversation without giving off the drunk vibe. It was difficult, but she made her way through the numerous faces she still couldn't remember the names of.

Maggie and Glenn had approached her a few hours into it. "We're going," Glenn explained. "Rick and some other people have left already," he stated slowly and clearly to Katty, who nodded dumbly. She glanced around. Rick's group had certainly thinned out, and Bob and Natalie Miller had evidently retired for the evening.

"You should too, sweetheart," Maggie cooed at her, who was apparently affectionate when she drank. "Don't wanna be too hungover for the run tomorrow," she reminded, which vaguely registered in Katty's hazy mind. She wasn't completely wasted, just content and drunk. Katty had actually remembered about an hour ago about the plan tomorrow, and had cut herself off.

"Alright, I just have to thank Deanna and I'll leave too," Katty decided. Maggie gave her a hug, which made Katty laugh, and Glenn wrapped an arm around Maggie's waist to lead her out. Katty smiled. They really were sweet.

Katty approached the former politician. "Thank you Deanna, this meant a lot," Katty awkwardly gestured to the room around her, which was still pretty full of people. Deanna smiled and nodded at her. "I'm going to head out now, so just wanted to thank you and say goodnight."

"I think the evening went well, don't you?"

Katty bobbed her head in a sloppy nod, though she was pretty sure she wouldn't have noticed if anyone was an asshole to her. The benefits of alcohol. "Yeah, everyone was nice."

Deanna swirled her glass of wine, and Katty wondered how many times it had been refilled. She thought that Deanna looked a bit more put together and coherent than Katty did, though, no matter the number.

"Alright, well, have a good night, Katty," Deanna smiled briefly at her before turning back to talk to someone Katty couldn't remember the name of. She waved at the remainder of people she recognized on her way out; Tara, Abraham, and what she guessed was the mullet styled head of Eugene.

It was dark out, and a pleasant warm breeze floated through the street. Katty was walking slowly and enjoying the night air, weaving towards houses. She decided to take the long way home, walking in between and around the different abodes. It didn't really make sense to anyone that would have been watching her, but to Katty's drunk brain, it was the only plausible path.

She had paused in between two houses to look up at the sky, when a fast approaching shuffling sounded behind her. Katty hoped it was a bunny, and tried to turn to meet it.

A body slammed into hers and shoved her form into the siding of one of the homes. Her head bounced painfully off the hard surface, and Katty let out a noise somewhere in between a groan of pain and a harsh exhale of air.

"Long time no see," a voice growled in her ear. The stench of liquor filled her nostrils, and she gagged. It was strong, probably whisky, and didn't mix well with the hot breath on her face.

"What the fuck – " she grunted as she struggled to move away from the foul odor. The larger, male form pressed her harder into the wall.

"Did you enjoy the party, Katty?" he sneered into her face before looking over his shoulder. Katty tried to squint and make out who it was, but her eyes were having trouble focussing on the close proximity as well as in the dark.

"Nicholas, grab her for me," he quickly instructed, and Katty groaned. Of course it was them.

Aiden roughly shoved her towards the other male, and she stumbled in the process. The world started to spin, and Katty wondered if she was going to chunder on Maggie's skirt. Another set of arms encased her, locking her arms to her sides and her wrists painfully behind her back.

"The only reason you got the better of us is because you surprised us. Who would have thought a skinny thing like you could fuckin' punch so hard?" Aiden let out a sharp, humorless laugh and approached Katty. "First things first though."

Pain bloomed on the right side of her face as Aiden's fist made contact with her cheek. Her head snapped to the left and the combination of pain and the still spinning earth around her made her legs give out. Nicholas grunted as he supported more of her weight.

"Hold her still," Aiden snapped, and she felt Nicholas tense behind her at the same time that something glinted in the moonlight.

"Man, I thought we were just goin' to scare her." He sounded nervous, and Katty felt her heart pick up speed. If Nicholas was nervous, she definitely should be. Her tongue felt thick and heavy and she tasted something sharply copper. Katty wanted to threaten him, scream, but she couldn't.

"We are, I'm not really going to do anything," Aiden sounded exasperated. "Just hold her still."

Katty head a ripping noise and felt a cool draft as Aiden cut the front of her shirt down to her belly button in one swift move. She let out a strangled yell, which was silenced immediately by a large hand. Aiden leaned close and traced the knife across her throat.

"You're fuckin' hot, even if you are a bitch," he slurred angrily, and Katty felt her eyes water. Aiden was obviously drunk; one wrong move and she could be dead. She felt a tear slip down her face, and Aiden laughed again before he put the knife back into the holder at his hip. She yelped and struggled at the sudden intrusion of his hands roughly on her breasts.

Nicholas' grip loosened on her arms and wrists. "Aiden, we weren't going to do this," he said before pushing Katty back into the wall. "Sorry, man, I'm out."

Katty bounced off the wall once more and vaguely heard Aiden cussing drunkenly at Nicholas' retreating form. She felt less vulnerable and scared now that she wasn't being held back by Nicholas, and anger bubbled beneath the surface.

Katty righted herself as Aiden finally remembered she was still there and tripped over his feet as he turned to face her. The scalding new emotion bubbled over the sides of her mind, and she could feel herself shaking. It was molten lava, leaving a trail of burnt skin and a hardened exterior as it coated her. Anger.

"Your mum told everyone to watch out for my _right hook_ ," she commented smoothly as she flexed her grip, lengthening and curling her fingers of her right hand.

"Wha –?"

Katty squared her body to mirror Aiden's and then swung her fist into Aiden's face. Pain shot all the way up her arm when it made contact with his left cheek, and Aiden stumbled before he tripped over he feet and slumped to the ground with a grunt.

"Fuck," he groaned and raised both his hands to cup his face. "Katty, I didn't mean – "

Katty had decidedly heard enough of his voice, and stepped roughly on his chest. Aiden let out a strangled, winded noise as the air rushed out of his lungs and he coughed loudly. Katty bent down and removed the short knife from Aiden's hip. She felt eerily calm as her fingers strung through his short hair and she roughly fisted as much of it as she could. With a jerk, she pulled his head forcibly towards her and pushed the blade against his own throat.

Aiden's eyes were fearful as she glared into them, and she felt a strange satisfaction in the emotion.

"I should slit your fucking throat and leave you here," Katty spat into his face, and Aiden winced away from the words. "You sack of shit coward. Can't face me normally, have to attack me with your mate while I'm alone and drunk."

She considered pressing a little harder and sliding the knife simultaneously, she really did. She considered killing him. Katty had never murdered anyone and taken it lightly. Even with the guards at Woodbury, she had been shaken up and sobbed uncontrollably afterwards. When the adrenaline and desperation had died down, she had felt guilty. Those men had had families. And in front of her now, Aiden was no different. Deanna, Reg, and Spencer flashed through her mind and Katty knew she couldn't do it. It wasn't an excuse, but she was sure that Aiden was wasted and probably only half aware of what he had done. He had still assaulted her and frightened her though, made her cry, and Katty scowled at him.

She tucked the knife away before throwing her fist into his face again, the same side as before. Aiden let out a pitiful noise and cowered on the ground, away from her.

She wished she could kill him.

"I'm still going to the warehouse tomorrow," she snapped at him. Her voice was shaking and Katty knew she was halfway between crying and hallway between screaming and many other halves of many other emotions. She was about to break. "You aren't going to kill any of my friends. And I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your fuckin' empty head if you try _anything_."

"Katty, I'm so –"

"I don't give a fuck," she ground out and stood up, taking a couple strides backwards to put some distance between them. Katty pulled the knife out, ready in case he decided to come at her again. However, Aiden just scrambled to his feet and cast one last, guilty look at Katty before he stumbled away at a run.

Katty didn't move for a few minutes, she just stood in place and breathed deeply in an attempt to calm herself. After she had stood back up, the world had started to spin again, and the combination of everything brought fresh tears to her eyes. She shivered and glanced down at the jagged cut down the front of her shirt. It wasn't even her shirt, Katty thought sadly as a few tears fell. Maggie's shirt was ruined.

She probably should have just gone home. She had originally planned to, but her drunken mind brought on irrational guilt over Maggie's torn shirt. In any other scenario, Katty would have realized that her friend wouldn't have given a flying fuck about the vest top, but currently, it was the straw that broke her back.

Katty half ran, half staggered, to the second house. Her fists raised and she rapped on the door impatiently. After unnecessarily knocking for a minute straight, Katty finally noticed that the lights were off and she looked over at the house to the left. Rick's house still had lights on, and she could see shapes of multiple people moving around. They were probably there, she decided.

She haphazardly and chaotically thwacked her fist on the door until a concerned looking Michonne answered the door.

"Katty, what happened? Are you – ?" she started urgently, but Katty bustled by her.

"Maggie," she loudly called out to the girl once her sights landed on her. Maggie was sitting at the island in the kitchen, staring at Katty with wide, worried eyes. They all were, really. Glenn was beside her, Rick, Carol, and Michonne were all close by. Everyone else was probably still out at Deanna's, Katty mused, somewhat relieved.

She was aware she looked like a mess. Her shirt was half hanging off of her, the skirt dirtied and half hiked up her legs. She could feel a trickle of blood that had made it's way down her neck, and her eye and cheek throbbed. Katty figured she couldn't hope for anything less than bloodshot eyes from withheld tears to go along with the black eye she would undoubtedly sport soon.

"Katty," Rick addressed her, and his voice was urgent and loud but still held an unwavering calm that only he could accomplish. "What happened?"

Katty glanced at him before she focussed her sad eyes on Maggie again. "Your shirt is ruined. I'm sorry." She knew she was being difficult, but she really didn't want to talk about what had happened. Katty was still incredibly angry and conflicted about the entire situation, and didn't want to have to sit and explain herself to anyone.

Maggie reflexively skipped her eyes down to Katty's exposed bra and the torn front of the shirt, before she looked back up to her. She couldn't seem to find any words, and Katty thought Maggie was probably a combination of shocked and still drunk.

"Michonne," Katty looked over to the other woman, "May I borrow some clothes?" The slur in her voice was evident, even to herself, as Katty tried to hold herself together.

Michonne nodded quickly and pointed her in the direction of her room. Thankfully, it was on the ground floor and Katty didn't have to navigate any stairs. Katty, quick as she could, changed into a dark pair of jeans and an oversized shirt that Michonne had in a drawer. She heard a masculine voice mumble something to the rest of the group, and assumed that Rick was giving them some sort of instructions of how to deal with her.

When she returned back to the main living area, everyone was silent and calm, and it unsettled her. Rick cleared his throat quietly, and Katty snapped her attention to him. He watched her levelly and seriously, and moved slowly towards her.

"Katty, is anyone else in danger?" Rick spoke slowly and directly, and Katty appreciated that the sentence was short enough that she could focus on it.

She wanted to say that Aiden was, but that wasn't the answer that Rick was looking for. "No," she said finally, and Katty didn't like how quiet her voice was in response.

"Okay, did anyone get inside the walls?" he asked next. Katty shook her head in response and then blinked at the spinning room. Bad idea.

"So someone in Alexandria attacked you?" Katty froze at that question, and side stepped around Rick towards the door.

"I'm fine," she snapped, "I just need to go to bed," her response was weak, even to Katty's drunk brain. Katty took a couple steps towards the open door, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Katty, wait," the voice was too close, and panic set in immediately.

"Don't fucking touch me," Katty snapped as she jerked out of the grip, and realized too late that it was Glenn. His concerned palm on her shoulder had felt like Nicholas' rough grip on her arms and wrist. Her heart dropped at the look on Glenn's face, and she felt a guilty expression slide onto her own.

Katty wanted to say sorry, assure Glenn that he had done nothing wrong, but she couldn't find the words in her panicked mind. Instead, she skipped back a few paces before she turned and bolted out the door.

She stumbled down the stairs and aimlessly ran towards the shelter of trees by the water, in the centre of Alexandria. Her legs all but gave out as she reached the tree, and Katty slumped on her knees in the grass. She wracked her cluttered brain for a story to tell them all, but couldn't think of anything. Katty needed to make sure that she was at the warehouse tomorrow, and she couldn't risk telling them. Rick might take her off the supply run if she did.

Katty knew she was angry and panicked and that she wasn't thinking clearly. But all that was going through her mind was that everything had been so much simpler on her own. When there had been no Aiden, no one to protect but herself, and no one to disappoint. Every time she tried, something seemed to get fucked up. She tried to protect Jessie and made enemies with the one doctor Alexandria had, she went on a simple collection run and ended up causing a scene and beating up Aiden and Nicholas, she tried to make nice and go to the party Deanna organized for her and ended up getting assaulted. She had almost killed a man tonight. Alexandria was poison.

She had done what she had intended to do. She had found Merle's brother and appeased Aaron by giving Alexandria a chance.

Maybe it was time to leave.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello, you! This was actually hard to write and I kept rearranging passages and rewriting scenes. I tried hard to make it followable but also jumbled at the end, since it is from Katty's half drunk mind.

I was wondering if you guys would like me to include little snippets and short quotes from the next chapter at the end of each chapter, sort of like a "next time on". It would be something short and wouldn't give away too much. Just so you get a clue what's coming up or who appears in the next one. If no one's interested then I won't bother, but just a neat thing that I've seen a couple other fanfics include.

Let me know what you think and feel free to leave a review! Thanks for reading!

-Submechanophobia


	11. Time

Heterochromia Iridum

 **I was actually extremely nervous to post that last chapter and avoided looking at reviews for a while. No idea why, just shocked that it was received so well. I've never written anything before a couple months ago, so every time someone reviews or favourites this, it's nuts to me.**

 **Thanks to** **jomoisbae81** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **ElectroGirl444** **,** **fangirl0012345** **,** **jamielynn25** **,** **LeAnn388** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **Steph** **,** **JenTen** **, and** **Bactrian Camel** **. Thank you to everyone else that's new here for reading or adding this story to your alerts. It means a lot.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Time

She was still sat outside, in the grass and in the dark, for hours. Or it had felt like hours. In actuality, it had only been a few minutes before she heard the soft sound of feet pressing into grass as someone neared her. Katty guessed who it was before they reached her spot beside the tree.

"Hey, Rick."

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, his voice lower and quieter than what hers had been, like he was trying not to scare her off.

Katty wondered why he didn't sound angry, and stiffened some when he stopped and stood beside her so that he was in her line of sight. She had guessed it was Rick for a simple reason.

"You're a cop, aren't you? Kind of your job."

Rick was silent for a while, and again, Katty wondered if it had been minutes or just seconds. Whichever it was, it had been enough time for Rick to decide to sit in the grass next to her. Katty noticed he still kept his distance from her, and moved almost purposefully slow. She bit the inside of her cheeks to stop the scowl from appearing on her face. I'm not a fucking deer, she thought.

"You're not a _job_ , Katty," Rick's voice may have been earnest, but it didn't take Katty a second glance to see the apprehension on his face. She also didn't need to remind herself that she hadn't been here that long, and couldn't possibly mean that much to any of them.

"Everyone's really worried," he continued when Katty didn't respond. Rick sounded genuine, and the low tone of his voice only amplified that. It tugged at her heart strings, hearing that. She could feel the familiar but unwelcome burn behind her eyes.

"I didn't mean to say that to Glenn," she mumbled quietly, and her hands started to fidget. Katty busied her hands by ripping out the bits of grass at her feet.

"He knows," Rick reassured her, but it only made Katty's lip tremble more. "We _all_ know you didn't mean it."

Her lungs betrayed her and forced a sob out of her mouth. "Why am I such a fuck up, Rick?"

She felt like a child, sitting there in the dirt and crying. They had come out to look for her, even though she had been a bitch. And Katty was still planning on leaving them. She hadn't done much besides cause discord and frustration wherever she went, and Katty was tired of it. After she went to the warehouse tomorrow, she would be gone. Hopefully she could vanish before Daryl and Aaron got back, she could feel the guilt coating and filling her stomach like stones.

The rustling beside her barely registered in Katty's cloudy brain, and then she was being tugged towards him. Katty's head pressed into Rick's chest, and he loosely slung an arm around her shoulders.

"You're alright, Katty," His chest vibrated slightly as he spoke. "And if you're not, then we'll make sure you will be."

This brought on a fresh set of tears, once she had gotten over the shock of Rick half-hugging her, and Katty cried harder than before. This was why she needed to make sure she was at the warehouse tomorrow. She had to make sure her friends made it out, even if she didn't come back with them.

He was silent, which Katty was thankful for. She was still sobering up, and it was difficult to concentrate on more than her too full mind. Rick didn't move his arm from her, and was patient while she cried and wiped her nose on his shirt. His breath pattern was steady, and she wouldn't admit it out loud, but it helped calm her down some.

"Ready to go back and talk about it?" Rick asked, and the gentle tone didn't suit him. Katty wondered what he had been like before the world ended. He had probably been a good father, before the world had ripped away his son's innocence.

Katty sighed and sat up, Rick's arm dropping from her back. "There's nothing to talk about," she muttered, the bitter tone encasing her words. Katty rubbed at her eyes to avoid looking at him.

Rick mirrored her sigh and ran a hand through his hair before he leaned forward, forcing Katty to hold his eye contact.

"You left a knife in Michonne's room after you changed clothes," Rick said while he fixed her with a level stare. Katty opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "It's not yours, Katty, don't bother saying that." She paused, before complying and shutting her mouth.

Katty couldn't think of a plausible excuse or story, especially under Rick's intense stare, and sighed. "Well, then we should probably get back before Deanna comes to find me."

She had thought about this before Rick had arrived. Deanna would undoubtedly discover her son's bruised and swollen face, and it wouldn't take her long to confront Katty. Unless Aiden found the perfect excuse, which was doubtful.

Rick looked at her briefly before rubbing his temples, his thumb and middle finger on either side of his forehead. "I think it's starting to piece together. Let's go," He looked tired already, and Katty inwardly cringed, feeling guilty that he would have to deal with this with her. The other man held out a hand to help Katty up, and she swayed slightly on her feet. The world wasn't spinning as much as before, but she was still feeling the effects of the night.

She tripped a few times on the walk back, and Rick finally let out a short laugh and put a hand on her elbow.

"No wonder Daryl had to walk you home last time," he mumbled, and Katty thought it sounded more like he was talking to himself than her.

"At least he's not here to see me," Katty muttered back dryly. That would have just been icing on the cake.

"Well," Rick started, his hand still steadying her as they walked. "I'd still probably be tryin' to calm Daryl down if he was here. He'd flip if he saw you like that."

Katty almost smiled, but couldn't when she remembered that she'd be long gone before he got back. She would definitely miss Daryl; a lot more than he'd ever think of her.

They approached the house and Katty felt the ball of anxiety and tension in the pit of her stomach roll around and grow. What were the faces that greeted her going to look like? Without asking, Rick walked slower and made sure she got up the stairs without a fatality. Even now, she was a burden, Katty thought morosely.

The sight that greeted her made whatever monster was growing in her stomach simmer and die. It wasn't awkward, the air wasn't filled with resentment or anger, there was no tension on anyone's faces. Glenn and Maggie sat at the island, leaning into each other and talking. Michonne was laying on the couch, and seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with the aforementioned couple. Carol was stirring something in a cup, and looked up when the two of them entered the house.

"I made you tea, sweetie," Carol called, and walked the cup over to the dining room table. Rick gave her an encouraging, small smile and inclined his head towards the table.

Katty made her way over, surprised when Glenn and Maggie both offered her a smile.

"Sorry, Glenn," Katty said, chewing her lip nervously. Glenn offered her a reassuring smile.

"No, it's fine, I shouldn't have –"

Maggie let out a groan, "Glenn? Sorry Glenn? What about my shirt?" she let out a drunk laugh before she finished her sentence, which deflated the effect of her fake anger.

Katty snorted in response, her mood momentarily lightening. "You should thank me for ruining that thing, ugh."

Maggie sent her a rude gesture that Glenn laughed at, and Katty couldn't help the small smile that escaped her. Maggie should drink more often.

"I don't want to interrupt, but we need to talk about some things," Rick cleared his throat. The twang that shone through at the word 'things' made Katty smirk. It immediately dropped when Michonne put the knife on the dining room table in front of her. "Especially if Deanna is on her way," he added as an afterthought.

"Deanna?" Glenn asked, sounding confused. His eyebrows raised as the obvious next thought popped into his mind. "Was it Aiden?"

The look on Katty's face gave it away before she could voice the confirmation.

Glenn's eyes skimmed over the side of Katty's face and down to her neck, and she looked away. If only she had gone to her house instead of barging in here.

"I'm so sorry, we should have waited for you instead of leaving, Katty," he said, and the apology rang in her ears in an odd, disjointed way. He had nothing to apologize for, and she furrowed her brows at him, confused.

"It's not your job to protect me, any of you," Katty explained, looking around to everyone. She didn't need bodyguards, she didn't need them worrying about her, and she definitely didn't need to be a burden.

"Yes, it is," Maggie snapped. "It's what _family_ does." Her tone suggested how stupid she thought Katty was. The word made Katty flinch and all the snappy comebacks that she would have normally had drained from her brain. All she could do was stare at them, Glenn and Maggie both looked at her with a 'well duh' kind of expression. Carol smiled encouragingly at her from behind them. Michonne stood nearby, looking serious, but she emulated a pillar of strength and support that was duly needed. Katty felt tears well up in her eyes again.

Rick cleared his throat, probably noticing the unshed tears threatening to spill again. The noise caught her attention and distracted her from the oddly sentimental moment as well as her waterworks, luckily.

"Katty, why don't you start from the beginning?" Rick suggested, evidently wanting to get started.

She hesitated and considered what details to skim over or omit. Even though it hadn't been that long ago, the entire encounter felt rushed and jumbled in her mind. It probably wouldn't take much for her to mess up the particulars. She knew the general outline of the night, but it had gone by fast and she was now tired.

Katty opened her mouth to start, just as a knock sounded at the front door. The physiological response was immediate, and Katty's stomach churned and clenched simultaneously as her heart rate spiked. The knock, though it had been of a typical, normal sound pattern and volume, sounded like a demolition team tearing down a building. Michonne's quick steps to the door felt like a life sentence; they dragged on and on.

"Good evening, Deanna," Michonne greeted calmly and evenly. Katty's stomach dropped at the confirmation, and her mind tried to run through different scenarios and piece together how this confrontation was going to play out.

"Katty wasn't at home; I trust she's here?" Katty tried to listen for the edge in Deanna's voice, the threatening undertone, but found none. Deanna had once mentioned that she was good at poker, at reading people. Katty wished she wasn't.

Michonne glanced over her shoulder briefly at Rick, who Katty saw nod once. She noticed he had strategically placed himself in between the doorway and Katty, but didn't block Deanna's view of her. He looked ready to step in if needed, and Katty hoped he wouldn't. She was probably going to get kicked out anyways, she didn't need the guilt of being responsible for Rick's dismissal as well.

Deanna stepped into the home and past Michonne, he eyes immediately zoning in on Katty's position at the dining table. Katty twisted her form in the chair so that she was sitting sideways on the chair, fully facing the former politician.

"Hullo," she greeted dully as Deanna remained silent, taking in Katty's own appearance. She wasn't looking forward to seeing herself in the mirror later. Her face still throbbed every few seconds, more so when she clenched her jaw. She would need to clean the cut on her throat too, she mused to herself.

Deanna slowly walked forward, and looked like she was contemplating how to start the conversation.

"Is there a particular reason why whenever Aiden is hurt, it leads back to you?" she finally asked calmly, almost tiredly, getting straight to the point.

Katty bristled, and felt her nerves molt and distort into anger. "Maybe he should have kept his hands to himself," she replied, ice evident in her voice. "Like we all learnt in primary school. Or was Aiden too thick to get through that lesson?"

If the jab affected Deanna, she didn't react. "It's lucky you didn't do much more than bruise him," she reported, and Katty felt anything _but_ lucky. "I'd also like to know why you felt the need to steal from him," Deanna gestured to the knife on the table.

"I _disarmed_ him after he cut through my top and almost gave me a lovely new breathing hole," Katty snapped and tilted her head back to accentuate the bloody slice on her neck.

"I'm not here to argue semantics, Katty," Deanna stated calmly, "I'm here –"

"Aren't semantics all we have anymore?" Katty mocked. "Alexandria is a home to some, poison to others." She waved a hand gesturing first to Deanna and then back to herself. "You may say Aiden acted in self defense, I say he assaulted me and fancied to change that into sexual assault while he was at it," Katty couldn't keep the mocking smile off her face at the widened expression Deanna sent. "It's _all_ semantics, love."

Deanna took a deep breath, and Katty was morbidly pleased that it shook. "Katty, why don't you start at the beginning?"

Katty suddenly craved a cigarette, and wished she knew if anyone in this room smoked. "You seem to already have the whole story, Deanna. Great detective work," she drawled at her.

"Katherine, just – "

"Don't," Katty snapped irritably. "Don't call me that," her mum had been the only one to refuse to call her Katty; she felt insulted that Katty didn't like that she inherited her grandmother's name. Katty would be damned if Deanna called her that.

"Katty," a low, calm voice sounded beside her.

It startled Katty, and she refrained from jumping at the sound of her name. Rick was now standing much closer to her than before. Katty glanced at Rick quickly before she focussed on Deanna again. Deanna wasn't antagonizing her on purpose, the portion of her sober brain reminded her. Just the appearance of the woman in front of her, and her relation to Aiden, made Katty escalate. Rick could see it too, and it didn't surprise Katty that he could. It was part of his job.

"Katty," he called again, and it was more stern this time. She twitched but her eyes remained locked on Deanna, spaced out. "Look at me," He didn't even try to hide the order in his voice, and Katty looked towards him before she could get annoyed. Rick was calm as always but his eyes held a warning. _Calm down_.

"I know you don't want to talk about it. Just say it once, and it'll be done."

Katty searched his face for a while, and she wasn't sure what she was looking for. Empathy, maybe? She knew Rick had to appear neutral in front of Deanna.

"There isn't much to it. I left the party, Aiden and Nicholas grabbed me. Aiden was obviously drunk, not sure about Nicholas. Aiden punched me, then when he pulled a knife, Nicholas got nervous. Ran off just after Aiden cut through my vest and held it to my throat. I punched him, took his knife, and he ran off too." Katty spoke only to Rick when she explained herself, and his eye contact felt like a lifeline. He held her gaze steadily, and nodded at certain points. Sure, she skirted over certain details, but Katty could confidently say that she hadn't lied.

"Thank you, Katty," Rick said evenly to her, and she shrugged in response and looked down. She wanted to be done. Katty could feel herself getting close to saying something that would make this infinitely worse.

Looking at Deanna, she felt it bubble to the surface again. She hated how calm Deanna was. Hated that Katty was sitting at the table, a tightly wound ball of anxiety and anger, and hated that Deanna was looking at Katty with a calculating expression.

"So what do you think we should do about this?" Deanna asked, and she wasn't condescending. Katty knew it was irrational, but it made her angrier that Deanna seemed genuinely curious what Katty thought should happen to rectify the situation.

Katty clenched her jaw, and her face throbbed painfully. "It doesn't matter to me," she snapped out before she could stop herself. "I'm leaving after we're done at the warehouse tomorrow."

She could feel the shocked expressions around the room, and cringed. Was it really that surprising? She glanced around and immediately felt guilty. Katty regretted her words. Not because she didn't really want to leave, but because she didn't want to upset anyone.

Maggie especially looked hurt. "No, you aren't," she said with a solid shake of her head. Katty didn't know what to say to her friend, and just looked at Maggie with wide eyes.

"You aren't getting exiled, Katty," Deanna said solidly, and Katty looked at her incredulously. What a bold faced fucking lie, she seethed to herself. Deanna just wanted to catch her off guard.

"I'm not, huh?" Katty asked, a challenge evident in her voice. She paused and considered whether to further her attack. The larger, angrier portion of her won out. She wanted to make Deanna _hate_ her, crack the calm, superior demeanor and make her angry. Katty licked her lips.

"I almost killed him," she said quietly, and waited for Deanna to explode. The air around her was tense, stifling, and Katty wanted to break it.

"Why didn't you?" Deanna asked instead, and Katty froze, completely thrown. Surprised, both by the content of the question and that fact that Deanna hadn't erupted in anger like Katty had expected. She frowned. Why _had_ she stopped? She had a reason. Katty mulled this over for a while, searching her mind for what had gone through her head at the time. The guards at Woodbury popped into frame, and she had her answer.

"Because of you."

"Me?" her eyebrows rose as the interest in her tone increased.

"You, Reg, Spencer," Katty elaborated. "I don't like you much, Deanna. But I respect you," she paused to throw her an annoyed look. Katty knew she was being petty, but couldn't seem to stop the proverbial word vomit from happening. "And I don't want to be the reason you have to mourn someone. I don't want to make you sad."

Deanna was silent for a while, and both women just stared at each other. Katty tried to calm the pace of her breath, but found that her heart was racing too fast to allow her lungs to steady themselves. Not now, Katty pleaded with herself. Please don't have a panic attack. Her chest felt tight and constricted.

"I asked you when you first got here what you thought about Alexandria," Deanna broke the silence. "I don't think you were being completely honest back then." It was a statement, not a question, one that Deanna didn't expect Katty to argue with.

The room was silent as the group waited for Katty to respond, and she had forgotten that there were even other people in the room until Carol put something in the sink to wash. She wondered what they thought about her now. When she wasn't funny Katty, positive or laughing Katty. When she broke and the surface of the person she had worked so hard to become chipped away. Katty felt like that bitter, angry girl at the beginning of the apocalypse, now more than ever.

"I always get asked why it took me so long to follow Aaron and Eric back to Alexandria," Katty mumbled offhandedly, picking at her nails as she stared at her hands clasped in her lap. "I was done with watching people die," Katty continued, not looking up. "But I was wrong about that. Everyone here, aside from Rick's group, is already dead," she continued bitterly. "I'm just fuckin' done with caring about – " she hesitated as she tried to think of a phrase to describe the residents. "caring about _souls that are already lost_."

"You don't mean that, Katty," Deanna was closer to her now, when Katty looked up from her lap finally. "You don't think that," she reworded. Deanna's voice was firm, she truly believed that Katty was lying.

"Deanna, you live in a complete fantasy land – you have _no_ idea what's happening out there," Katty's voice had lost the angry edge and she just sounded frustrated – morose even. "The people of yours that you do send out there treat it like a fuckin' joke, a game. Instead of listening to Rick or anyone that's actually _lived_ through it, you're content to make them all play dress up. How sick is that?" Katty's eyes searched Deanna's, looking for some form of recognition or acceptance. Nothing. She found nothing in return.

"You can't say you don't care, Katty." Deanna responded, ignoring Katty's previous dialogue. Katty frowned, confused. "Look around," she continued at the look on her face. Katty flinched when Deanna put her hand confidently on her shoulder and leaned in slightly. " _You already do._ Jessie said you wanted to teach everyone self defense classes with Rosita, Natalie and Bob mentioned tonight that you visit just to talk sometimes, and you've requested to be put on the watch rotation. Rick's group are residents too, even if you don't see it that way. And there's a room full of them right now that care about you. Katty, you can lie to yourself all you want, but it's obvious you're past the point of not caring."

Katty's eyes burned and she glared at Deanna, unshed tears evident in her glare. She was angry because Deanna was right; she already cared about people here, enough to want to teach them how to defend against any harm. She was angry because that meant she was already a goner; sucked into a typhoon of sadness when people were inevitably lost.

She didn't say anything in response, just shook her head in a disbelieving kind of way and focussed on trying not to cry in front of everyone.

"I didn't come here to fight with you or throw accusations at you, Katty," Deanna still had her hand on her shoulder, and Katty didn't look at her. She could feel the soft, sympathetic look on her face, and didn't want to see it. "Aiden wasn't – " she paused, " _forthcoming_ with what happened, but he didn't blame you at all. He's apologetic."

Katty couldn't make herself scowl or be angry anymore. She was drained, and though she wasn't going to forgive the younger Monroe son, Katty knew she wouldn't try to sabotage anything at the warehouse tomorrow. It wasn't worth risking other people. She wasn't angry enough to forget about everyone else.

"I just thought I would get your side of the story," Deanna continued. "And I had a feeling that we had some things to talk about," she added quietly. "I meant it, you aren't exiled. And I can't stop you from leaving, but there would be a lot of people that would miss you, Katty. More than Rick's group."

"However, I think we need to sleep on it and talk about whether you should go to the warehouse in the morning," Deanna added carefully, enunciating clearly and evenly.

Katty's head snapped up to look at her, and Deanna raised a hand up to stop Katty from talking. "I'm not saying no; I'm just saying we'll talk about it." Deanna had evidently decided that that was the end of the conversation, and took a step back from Katty. She turned to address Rick. "I think that's enough for tonight, I'm sure you all want to get to bed. I'm sorry the evening had to end like this," Deanna nodded at all of them, and then cast a brief, unreadable look towards Katty before turning and walking out.

She shut the door, and with that, seemingly shut out every last noise and breath in the room. There were a few, tense seconds, which Katty immediately decided she couldn't stand.

"I'm sorry, I – "

"Stop," Carol interrupted her. "You have _nothing_ to apologize for, Katty." She clipped at her, and Katty's eyes found her feet once more.

"You didn't mean that, right? You're not really leavin' us," Maggie asked, pleading with Katty with her eyes.

Yes. "I'm not sure," she said instead. Coward. "It's hard – sometimes – being around people again," Katty parroted Enid's words back at the group. She easily and fully related to what the girl had said to her earlier that day.

"It's harder to be alone," Michonne said gently, and Katty had the distinct feeling that she was speaking from experience. Katty didn't disagree, but it was difficult in a different way.

"You're staying here tonight," Rick said firmly, and Katty quirked an eyebrow at him. "I think everyone would feel better if you did. You can take Daryl's room,"

She wrung her lip between her teeth and looked at him, uncomfortable. The needy, childlike part of her was thankful for the invitation. "That's invasive, isn't it?"

Glenn's lips twitched, "Why, because you plan on snooping?"

Katty mock glared at him. "Yeah, because I have a death wish, Glenn."

"Daryl wouldn't mind if he was here, it's fine," Rick reassured her. "He probably took most of his things out with them, anyways."

Katty vaguely heard Michonne mutter a suggestive comment under her breath, but couldn't bring herself to laugh at it. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget about this entire evening. Forget about Aiden, forget about the entire confrontation with Deanna, and forget Maggie's hurt expression when she blurted out her plan to leave.

Looking around, Katty couldn't say she wasn't surprised that not a single face contained malice towards her. Everyone mostly looked tired or somewhat contemplative, but no one seemed angry. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt. Would she be able to leave these people? They had offered her nothing but support and encouragement the entire evening. She had even just said to Enid, hours earlier, that Katty felt empty on her own. Could she really survive, emotionally, mentally, like that?

Katty shook her head. That was selfish of her. Her decision had to be for the benefit of the group, not her. And if that meant Katty's disappearance, that's just what would have to happen.

Carol offered to show Katty to Daryl's room, and Maggie reached out and squeezed her hand assuredly as she left the room. On her way down the hallway and up the stairs, she heard Glenn and Maggie saying their goodbyes and making their short walk back to the other house. Other than Daryl, she had definitely spent most of her time with the aforementioned couple. And other than her favourite grouchy redneck, Katty would miss them the most.

"It's this door," Carol said, and Katty finally focussed on the environment around her. Carol opened the door for her and it was as Katty expected. Like the rest of the houses in Alexandria, the room was nice. Classy and modern and furnished. Daryl's room was mostly bare, and he didn't have piles of clothes or weapons lying around. She wondered if he had taken everything when they left today.

How different would the evening have gone if Daryl had been here? She would have liked to romanticize it, think that none of it would have happened and that he would have made it better. Not that that idea was implausible, but it was more likely that it would have gone worse. Daryl might've blown up at Deanna, went after Aiden, there were many more ways that it could have ended even worse. Maybe it was some sick blessing that he had been ignorant to the entire thing.

"See you in the morning, Katty," Carol said kindly, briefly laying a hand on her arm before she walked towards where Katty presumed her room was.

She didn't snoop, not really. Katty merely helped herself to one of the last few shirts in his closet, which ended up being one with the sleeves ripped or cut off. She rolled her eyes, amused. Did the man ever wear anything else? She supposed if she had arms like that, she wouldn't feel compelled to cover them up either.

So she went through Daryl's closet quickly for a shirt. But Katty didn't snoop. She refrained from looking throw any drawers or even under the bed. Her pants stayed off, because Katty really deserved a night where she didn't have to wear pants. An odd thought struck her, and Katty realized one of the things she missed most about her life before was sleeping naked. Strange, that these simple aspects of comfort and security is what she missed. Katty would probably never get to do that again.

She climbed into bed, trying to ignore the discomfort with being in Daryl's room and now in his bed. Katty tried to ignore the fact that everything smelled like him and made her, again, selfishly reconsider her choice in leaving.

The ceiling greeted her long before any sleep did, and Katty stared at the dark surface for a while. She refused to question anymore how much time had actually passed. She listened to the rest of household retire to their own rooms for the night and then forced her eyes closed.

Sleep drifted to and away from Katty many times that night, but laying in the confines of another person's bed, she was able to pretend that she wasn't in Alexandra. Wasn't in the middle of a world consumed by the undead, wasn't already missing people that she had yet to leave. Wasn't worried about what would happen tomorrow.

Only time would tell.

* * *

 **A/N:** Shorter chapter, I know! Next one we will deal with the warehouse, and Daryl will either be in the next coming chapter or the one after in some way or another. I know this is a slow burn compared to other stories, but thank you for sticking with me. It'll pay off soon, I swear!

I think I might add the snippets, starting next chapter. Hopefully I don't forget, haha.

Thanks for reading and feel free to review!

-Submechanophobia


	12. Beginning

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Knocked this one out relatively quickly. Shorter because I decided to split it up into two parts. It would have been unbearably long if I hadn't. Hopefully will finish the next part pretty quick as well. Wish me luck!**

 **Thanks to** **LeAnn388** **,** **Lilsuccubus** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **lilhobbit** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **Steph** **,** **scythe195** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **JenTen** **, and everyone that added this story to their favourites or alert list!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Beginning

"How is she this morning?"

Rick shoved his hands in his pockets as he and Deanna took a short walk around the perimeter of Alexandria. The group would start to pack up the van soon, and a decision would have to be made if Katty would join them.

"I talked to her," he stated confidently, making sure to meet Deanna's calculating gaze before continuing. "She was upset last night; said a lot of things she didn't mean. She's past it now."

"I'm not sure about that," Deanna countered, sounding thoughtful. "I think that it's taking her a long time to adjust – " she paused to scan Rick's face. He wondered what expression had shone through, because Deanna changed her tune. "It's not a bad thing, Rick, I'm just trying to think of what's best for the rest of the group."

He furrowed his brows at her briefly before he worked to wipe the annoyed look off his face. It wouldn't due any good to look biased. "So am I and so is Katty," Rick explained. "She's a valuable asset to the group, she works well with _most_ of them, and she wants to help."

" _Most of them_ is what I'm concerned about," Deanna ran a hand over her forehead and hair as she glanced towards the converging group standing by the large, tan van. "It doesn't take much for someone to get hurt or not return, and they all need to rely on each other. _Including_ Aiden and Katty."

Rick resisted rolling his eyes. It was laughable to think that Glenn, Tara or Noah trusted Aiden and Nicholas, or vice versa. Adding Katty wouldn't change that.

"Like I said, I talked to her," he parroted back to Deanna, who raised her eyebrows.

"She's willing to forgive and move past what happened?" she questioned, and Rick could hear her dubious tone.

He nodded solidly, maintaining eye contact. "Ask her yourself," Rick suggested with a shrug, jerking his head towards where Katty was talking and laughing with Tara and Noah. He had told her to hover until she was needed, and was thankful that the girl could follow instructions.

They had a long conversation early in the morning, and Rick had given her specific directions to ensure that she would be cleared to go. Katty was grumpy and somewhat hungover, but Rick hadn't been sympathetic. She sat at the kitchen table with steel cut oats and watched him bleakly as Rick spoke.

He trusted the Alexandria people less than ever now, though the thread had already been stretched thin before. Rick needed as many people of his there as possible, and though Katty had been somewhat unstable and emotional last night, he trusted that she wanted to keep their own safe above anything.

She had groaned when he explained that if Aiden interacted with her or attempted to apologize, she would have to be civilized. "If he says anything, make sure Deanna sees you acceptin' it," Rick had told her sternly. "Come out smiling, calm, anything to make her think you're over it."

He resisted reaming her out about last night. Deanna could have kicked Katty out over what happened and how Katty spoke last night. A few points during the confrontation last night, Rick had tried to calm her down, warn her off escalating and saying what she had. Telling Deanna that she almost killed Aiden, Rick knew that the evening was only going to get worse from there.

She had somewhat redeemed herself, though, and in an unlikely way. It was easy to read her emotions and almost her thoughts, written as plain as scripture on her face. When she spoke it was genuine, and not as heartless as Rick knew she wanted to come across. Katty didn't want to get hurt, and didn't want to hurt other people, for the most part. She attempted to deflect the conversation into anger and tried to distract Deanna with the same, but it didn't work. Deanna could plainly see that Katty wasn't as uncaring as she claimed to be, and had called her out on it. The former politician empathized with Katty, almost had a soft spot for her, and Rick was curious why. Ultimately, it didn't matter, as long as it ended in their favour.

Rick steered Deanna towards the group of runners by the large, ugly vehicle. He noticed Aiden fiddled with his hands nervously as he approached Katty, and Rick sent her a look that he hoped she saw. Katty snuck a quick glance at himself and Deanna before she turned her attention to Aiden, and whatever he was currently stumbling out at her.

Rick cast a sidelong glance at Deanna, noticing that her own was locked on the aforementioned two.

"I encouraged him to make it right," Deanna commented as they walked towards Reg, standing off to the side. Rick wondered how much the older man knew. "I'm glad he decided to try."

They both watched as Katty nodded slowly at whatever Aiden had said, before she hesitated briefly and tapped his arm in an attempt at a comforting gesture. Rick let out a small breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. At least she could follow directions.

He could see Deanna nodding slightly beside him, and inwardly chuckled. As long as Deanna believed it.

Glenn made his way over to the three of them, nodding at Deanna and Reg in a greeting.

"Almost ready to head out?" Reg asked conversationally.

"Almost," Glenn nodded. "Just waiting for Eugene and then we're going to hand out the weapons," he explained.

"How do you feel about the group dynamic, Glenn?" Deanna asked, and Rick wanted to roll his eyes again at the woman. It was obvious what she was really asking.

Glenn glanced over his shoulder briefly towards Katty. She was still standing near Aiden and having what appeared to be a polite, if not short, conversation. Tara had handed Katty a bag of something, and Katty had an interested look on her face as she shuffled through it.

"We need her, Deanna. It'll go a lot smoother with Katty there," Glenn stated immediately and without hesitation. He also apparently had known what Deanna had really been asking, and decided to cut straight to the point.

Her eyebrows raised at the younger man. "Why do you feel you need her?"

Glenn looked thoughtful for a minute, before a whoop interrupted him.

"Me and Tara strung up a target for you, Katty. Bet you can't hit it," Noah taunted, and Rick watched Katty smile at the joking tone. Tara tied off a section of rope around a tree, and Rick raised his eyebrows in amusement. A chunk of wood was tied and swinging like a pendulum off of a branch.

"I bet doing laundry that you'd stick it, Katty, so you better get it," Tara called out as she walked back towards them. "Not in the mood to handle Noah's tighty whiteys."

Katty laughed again before pulled a number of knives out of the bag that Tara had given her. She was a good distance away from the swinging target, but she was almost lackadaisical as she chucked the blade towards the tied off branch. She didn't wait to see if the knife had landed, Katty quickly fired off four more knives in the same direction, all of them resulting in a satisfying _thunk_ as they lodged in the wood, close together.

She brought out one more and took a few seconds to aim this one, before letting it sail out of her hand. Rick's eyes widened slightly as the knife easily sliced through the vertical section of rope holding the wood in place, and it dropped to the ground.

Rick hadn't seen Katty throw knives before. He had heard Noah telling the group that Katty had 'nailed a Walker from 20 feet' when they had gone out previously. Rick had assumed that Noah was talking about her shooting, and didn't find it that impressive. Watching her now, he understood why the younger man had been enthralled.

"Dibs on staying with her."

Eugene's deep, almost monotonous voice sounded behind them, and Glenn rolled his eyes and directed him towards where Tara was. He was holding some black box with an antenna in his hands, and Rick didn't even spare the time to wonder what it was. That wasn't his forte.

Glenn turned back to Deanna, who's eyebrows were still raised, now in surprise. "That's why we need her. It's better to have a team with varied skills. Katty's fast, quiet, and has been through it. It's what we need," he explained simply and calmly, and Deanna nodded slightly.

Rick ground his teeth thoughtfully. A part of him felt uneasy as he watched Katty. The dissonance between the vulnerable and angry girl that had shown up last night and Katty in front of him now unsettled Rick. He found it hard to trust people, that was obvious, and there was a gut reaction of suspicion towards Katty still. There were still questions about her, ones that he knew weren't his business to ask her. What had been her purpose at Woodbury? She had left long before the Governor came after them at the prison, so he wasn't worried about Katty being involved in the attacks. But it had been bad enough that _Merle_ helped her escape, someone who didn't care about anyone other than himself and Daryl. Something was off about Katty. Rick just wasn't sure it was worth an interrogation yet.

Last night, he couldn't help the instinct to hug her and tell her it was going to be alright. Her crying and asking him 'why' had gotten to him, pulled at his heartstrings. Crying women always had, even before the apocalypse. Everyone was so numb lately, it had been odd to see someone actually break down.

It barely registered as she walked up to them with a hopeful smile. Rick blinked quickly before looking at Deanna.

"You still feel like you'd be an asset to the team?" Deanna asked her immediately, forgoing pleasantries.

Katty nodded quickly and reached a hand to scratch behind her neck as she looked over at Aiden. He was loading the van. "Yeah. We talked, actually, and he apologized. It's fine."

Looking at her, Rick knew it was anything but fine. She wasn't terribly swollen, but a large, fist sized bruise ran down her face and covered her eye. She had a bandage on the cut on her neck, which Katty explained last night had been more to keep it clean while they were out than to keep it from bleeding. Her blood clotted quickly, apparently. Aiden wasn't much better, he also had a bruise on his face, and was more swollen and uncomfortable looking than Katty.

Deanna looked at her for a few tense seconds, before she smiled, and it looked almost forced. "I don't have a problem with you going, then. As long as you feel up to it," Katty immediately nodded in agreement.

Rick quickly reached a hand to squeeze Katty's shoulder encouragingly. She didn't flinch away, he noted. "Good luck," Rick muttered at her before he nodded at the group and walked away to continue his day. He was confident that he would hear about the events when they got back that same day.

Rick walked, and tried to shake the feeling that not everything would go as planned.

* * *

Daryl moved lightly through the tall grass, his eyes flickering between around him and the area around his feet. After giving Katty shit about the rattle snake, he'd be damned if he ended up stepping on one and coming back with a bite. Aaron moved quietly beside him a few feet away, and Daryl was thankful that he knew how to be mostly silent.

"Wanna stop to –" Daryl interrupted Aaron by raising a hand. Aaron immediately grew quiet, and Daryl turned towards to quiet growling noise that had registered in his mind a moment ago. A female Walker in blue scrubs appeared at the treeline a distance away, and Daryl waited for it to get closer before he sent a bolt into it's head.

"Nice catch," Aaron complimented, and Daryl grunted in response as he bent down to retrieve the bolt from the side of its head. He wiped it on a rag in his pants pocket before putting it away.

"Wanna stop to eat?" he asked again, and Daryl shrugged.

"Sure, if ya want."

Aaron pulled his backpack off his shoulders and grabbed a couple bottles of water and protein bars. Daryl declined the bar as he had a couple in his pockets, but grabbed the water with a grunted, "thanks".

Daryl reached both hand into the pockets of his vest, unsure which one held the food he had. His left hand clasped a power bar just as his right felt something much different. Daryl fiddled with it briefly as his mind figured out immediately what it was. The photo of Katty he had taken some days ago.

He felt like a fuckin' girl, carrying the thing around. Daryl didn't dare take it out of his pocket, in fear that Aaron would see and he wouldn't hear the end of it.

He had fiddled with it before, too, he remembered dully. When he was saying his lame form of goodbye to Katty. He had wanted to say something better. Wanted to tell her he had skinned all the meat they had gotten that day and he had definitely planned on manning the fuck up and saying that when he got back, he wanted to have dinner with her again.

But nope. Instead he had gotten tongue tied like some fuckin' virgin and told her to "stay outta trouble".

" _Ya know the old sayin', baby brother,_ " he could hear Merle's declaration in his mind. " _Gotta grab the bitch by the twat and show 'er who's boss,_ ". Daryl chewed the inside of his cheek, wishing he had just said something. Sure as fuck not anything that Merle would have said, but _something_.

His hand left the photo and he grabbed the power bar out, unwrapping it quickly to eat. Daryl could feel Aaron watching him, but his mind was elsewhere. How had the party gone? Even if he had stayed, there was no way he would have gone to it, but it was grating, not knowing how the evening ended.

"I'm sure it went fine," Aaron reassured him, and Daryl refused to look at him. The man could basically read his thoughts whenever it came to Katty, and it irritated him.

"What?" he grouched, feigning ignorance.

He could see Aaron biting back a smile before he responded. Aaron chewed thoughtfully for a minute. "You have that look you get when you're worried about her."

"'M not worried about Katty," Daryl denied immediately, shaking his head quickly.

Aaron didn't bother to conceal the smile this time. "Who said I was talking about Katty?"

Daryl scowled at him, but even he knew it lacked any bite. He was just annoyed that Aaron had practically tricked him without trying. He had walked right into that.

"Just have a bad feelin' is all," he muttered, deciding not to be a complete asshole and give Aaron _something_.

* * *

"We're not goin' all the way there to end up bringin' home the wrong shit," Aiden explained patiently to Eugene, who was evidently trying to get out of the warehouse run.

Eugene shook the black object in his hand at Aiden. "There's dozens of these, all consistent in appearance. The shit will be right," he quickly countered, vehement that they didn't need him.

He looked at Noah again, since Aiden walked away. "I will install said shit, and the grid will be fully operational," he continued, obviously hoping that his words would sway the decision.

Katty bit back a smile at his tone. She hadn't spoken much to Eugene, but the monotonous drawl always made a bubble of laughter want to appear.

"Eugene, it'll be dark. We need you there to confirm it," Katty added as she loaded the medical kit into the back of the van. Noah thrust the gun with an attached silencer at Eugene again, who took it with a less than happy face.

"Heard you talkin' to Holly last night," Tara asked Noah with a mischievous look. "What's her story?"

Noah smiled to himself and then looked at Tara pointedly. "Why d'ya ask?"

Tara rolled her eyes at Katty and then clapped her hands on Noah's shoulders as he turned away. "It was an innocent question, don't make me hurt you," she chided jokingly.

Maggie bid Glenn goodbye without saying the exact phrase; just simple looks and simple words. She caught Katty's hand quickly afterwards and squeezed it briefly, sending her an assuring look. "Come by after, we'll have another long talk and cry on each other again," she said with a smile.

Katty laughed shortly, thinking that she had done enough crying last night to last her a long time.

She agreed anyways, and then hopped in the back of the truck. Glenn plopped next to her, and Tara turned her taunts to Noah once more.

"Seriously, what's her story?" she asked. Noah grinned briefly before loud, base driven music filled their ears. Katty scoffed, recognizing the song immediately. It was by Knife Party. The kind of song that Katty would have danced to in a shitty downtown Hollywood club, but secretly hated.

Noah rolled his eyes and Glenn exchanged a bewildered look with Katty.

"Great, another mix," Noah muttered to them, and Katty let out a laugh.

' _Now you're going to die_ ,' the woman's voice recited in the song.

"Super encouraging," Katty drawled sarcastically.

They sat in silence for a while until the song changed, and though it was still obnoxiously loud, they could talk over it. Katty had been watching Noah fiddle with a dark, bound book in his hands and gestured towards it.

"What's that?"

Noah threw a wide smile at Katty, his eyes dancing as he flipped through the blank pages of the book in front of him.

"I asked Reg to teach me to build things," He explained, and Katty's eyebrows shot up. "He gave me this, just to write everything down in."

"I didn't know you were interested in architecture," Katty commented, wondering where the sudden interest sparked from. Noah was relatively young, though, he could have been dreaming of architecture before the world ended, she supposed.

"Not really," Noah admitted, "But I'm interested in keeping this place safe. Keeping the walls solid, keeping the houses up," he listed briefly, shutting the dark book and hanging the clip of the pen off the front cover of it. Katty briefly saw a few words scrawled on the first page, but they were gone before she could make them out.

"This is the beginning of everything," he continued without prompting from her, seemingly eager to discuss his plans. "I want to continue Reg's work and be able to pass it on to the next people here."

Her throat felt dry, and Katty could only nod quickly at Noah, mustering up a small smile to show him. It made her feel childish, to have someone younger than her have a tenfold more hope and drive to keep the community safe than she did. She wished she saw it as he did; a new beginning.

This morning, she had felt divided. Embarrassed, but also relieved that she had gotten almost everything off of her chest to Deanna. She had been surprised that Deanna hadn't kicked her out, even more surprised when she allowed her to go on the run. Granted, she probably would have either followed them or stowed away if Deanna had said no, but whatever Rick had said had obviously made a difference to the woman.

Katty had tried, with every fibre of her being, to be genial and happy this morning. She had remembered Rick's words about if Aiden apologized, and had glanced to make sure Deanna was watching before she took Aiden up on his offer. He hadn't said much to her, just stuttered out an awkward apology that ended with her skin crawling from the uncomfortable air. Katty had wanted to say something nasty and vulgar to him in response, but refrained herself and nodded. The extra mile had been taken, and she had lightly clapped him on the shoulder, telling him that she would "cover his arse". Katty wasn't sure if that was true, but Aiden smiled at her weakly all the same. He did look guilty and apologetic; she just wasn't sure she cared.

She still wanted out, still wanted to leave. Katty didn't want to make any rash decisions or leave the group high and dry, but she convinced herself that she should start looking for Calum again, possibly make her way up to Washington like they originally planned. It wouldn't technically be running away if she had a purpose, right?

They were quiet for the majority of the ride, and Aiden turned the music off when they got closer to their destination. The van slid to a halt and both Aiden and Nicholas were the first to hop out of the van. Tara and Katty exchanged matching serious looks before the back doors swung open and light flooded the back. The five of them climbed out the back and started divvying out the weapons.

Eugene stood of to the side, looking dejected and like he really didn't want to be there. Which he probably didn't. Katty just hoped that he wouldn't be a liability.

Glenn passed Katty another handgun with a makeshift silencer attached to it, and she took it, hoping she wouldn't have to use it. Granted, she did feel better about handling guns since Daryl had gone out with her that day, but they hadn't attempted to hit any moving targets. She hoped her throwing knives and her machete would be enough. Katty secured a second pouch of knives on her belt loops at her side, opposite the machete.

"Looks like that door is the fastest way in and out," Aiden said, nodding towards the door behind them and up a few stairs.

Glenn shook his head. "We should know all the exits first. So that there's a plan if things go south," he said firmly, and Katty made sure to step so that she was at Glenn's side. She wanted it to be obvious that she was in agreement with Glenn, but refrained from vocalizing so. Rick had reminded her earlier to keep a clear head and follow what Glenn said.

Nicholas scoffed and shot Glenn an arrogant look. "I already got one, it's called the front door."

Glenn didn't say anything right away, just fixed Nicholas with an unamused look. Nicholas looked toward Aiden with the same amused, cocky look, which Aiden didn't return. He merely glanced at Nicholas briefly before turning and grabbing a shotgun from the back of the van.

A quiet shuffling sounded behind them, and Katty was the first one to notice it. She fiddled with the strap on the pouch at her side as she glanced over. One Biter, slow, pretty far away. No need to panic.

"Noah," she called shortly, inclining her head towards it.

"Got it," he replied, and raised his loaded gun at the Biter before pulling the trigger. It was surprising how much their makeshift silencers actually worked, and Katty didn't flinch at the noise. Maybe this would be easier for her to use, she mused.

"Nice shot," Aiden complimented, handing the shotgun in his hands to the other man. He then looked at Nicholas again before turning to Glenn. "Glenn's right, we should do a perimeter check. Just in case," he said. Katty raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.

Maybe he felt guilty for what happened last night, maybe he was getting used to the idea of outsiders in Alexandria. Whatever it was, she appreciated that Aiden had pointedly used the words 'Glenn's right,' to agree with him.

Glenn just nodded at him, and they easily broke off into groups to scout the area. Nicholas and Aiden went together, Tara and Eugene checked around the large semi trucks, and Katty felt somewhat like a tag along, beside Glenn and Noah. Unconsciously, she made a promise to herself that she would do everything she could to bring these people home.

"Good aim back there," Glenn commented quietly to Noah as they walked around the side.

Noah shrugged. "Target practice helps," he said easily. He glanced at Katty and then grinned. "Actually, last week I was thinkin' of practicin' on Aiden."

The three of them laughed lightly. Glenn whistled shortly and pointed to the side swiftly, towards a Biter ambling towards them. Katty pulled a heavy knife from her wrap around her leg and jerked her hand towards it, letting the weapon fly. It hit bullseye, imbedding itself into the Biter's eye socket and it fell to the ground.

"Where'd you learn that?" Glenn asked when she jogged back after retrieving it.

"Merle," she said simply, assuming that Glenn knew who Daryl's brother was. "I had a knack for it. Not as good with guns, I'm afraid," she admitted. Noah gave her a reassuring smile.

"You'll get it eventually. If I can, you sure as hell can."

Katty smiled back. Noah really was an uplifting figure, and she appreciated that. Especially today.

A chain link fence came into view, and they picked up their pace, knowing that the front door would be on the other side. A noise similar to a grating humming greeted them, and the sight of a crowd of Biters, milling about the front entrance accompanied it. There were a lot. Too many to clear, Katty knew.

"Well," Glenn started blandly. "Now we know we aren't going out the front."

Katty nodded bleakly in agreement, and they turned around the report back to the others, hoping that there were a few more exits for them, clear from Biters.

When they returned, the four other people were already there, waiting.

"Anything?" Aiden asked.

Glenn shook his head, "Found the front entrance. It's swarmed."

"There weren't any useable entrances along our side, either," Tara added. "Looks like it's just this one." She gestured to the original one that they had parked in front of.

"Let's go," Nicholas commanded them, already making his way towards the door.

He stopped short of opening it, and waited for Glenn and Aiden. Katty rolled her eyes. Of course. Glenn walked forward and swung the door open, the creaking of a long unused door greeted them. Aiden drew his firearm and pointed it into the darkness as Glenn smacked three times on the metal frame. They waited for a minute, and heard nothing.

Aiden went to take a step into the building, and Glenn held up a nonthreatening hand to make him pause. "Give it a second," he said lowly. "It's a big place, could be some inside."

Aiden muttered something back in agreement, and Katty again felt surprised. If only he had been this Aiden from the beginning, she thought. She could have standed being civil with him.

Glenn moved forward and the rest of them followed, holding their flashlights up. Katty mimicked Glenn's pose, holding her handgun with one hand and crossing the hand that held her flashlight under the other, for adding support when firing.

It was dark and dank and everything was coated in a layer of dust. Katty was thankful that she didn't have allergies, but still felt the urge to cough as their footsteps kicked up irritants. She branched off with Eugene and Tara, the former of which looked particularly nervous.

They moved quickly down the aisles, sending the beams of light towards the different boxes.

"What'll the box say?" Katty asked quietly.

She had hoped that the box would have been more clearly laid out for them, but scanning the copious amounts of shelves, she doubted that was the case. The boxes were huge and spanned shelves many feet off the ground, most which would be difficult to reach. Lots were unlabelled, which didn't help.

"Different things. Could say Enphase Energy, Micro-Inverter, Solar Panel Micro-Inverter, Power Optimizer," Eugene rattled off easily.

Katty and Tara shared a look. She wondered how likely it would have been for them to find what they needed without Eugene. Probably not very high.

Glenn called out to then shortly and quietly to check where they were, and Tara replied back.

"We got this aisle."

The other four men moved away and down an opposing aisle. Growling and snapping followed shortly after, which made the three of them exchange glances before hurrying in the direction that they had gone. Aiden and Glenn were standing in front of what looked like a metal, chain link wall, acting as a cage. Noah and Nicholas were situated behind them, looking over their shoulders. The Biters were contained, but were excited and reaching through the spaces towards the fresh bodies.

A couple of them were wearing worker's uniforms, and Katty frowned. Sometimes, aspects of Biters jumped out at her and reminded her that the were once human and very much alive. It was sad, staring at the rasping, hungry face of the long dead person now, with skin sagging off the jaw.

Katty didn't listen to the short conversation that Aiden and Glenn shared, too caught up in her thoughts of how short and sad life was now.

"You're up," Tara said sternly to Eugene, and the three of them went back and separated from the other young men, walking back down the aisle.

Tara and Eugen took either side, and Katty slowly walked behind them, checking the higher shelves on either side. Tara wasn't comfortable with Katty trailing behind, but she made sure the other two were never that far in front of her. She wasn't too concerned with Biters, after all.

Eugene stopped. "This one. Here," he said, sounding relieved. Tara quickly sawed through the box and grabbed the first thing she could find out of it. The side of the box had a white label that bore the words 'MICRO-INVERTER' in large black letters.

He quickly nodded when she shone her flashlight more on the thing she had pulled out. "That's it," Eugene confirmed, and Katty thought she had never seen anything more beautiful than that hunk of metal and plastic.

"We found 'em," Katty said lowly, and a flashlight from the next aisle over appeared quickly.

"Way to go, Eugene," Glenn congratulated. Eugene just looked eager to get the fuck out of there, which Katty could relate to. A silenced gun going off made them pause their celebrations, and Katty squinted through the darkness, trying to see what was going on. Glenn had turned away from her as well, and was peering through the other side of the shelves.

"It's got armor, let it come closer," Glenn instructed to who Katty could now make out as Aiden. A Biter wearing army fatigues slowly made its way towards Aiden, every inch of it covered. It was even wearing a helmet; one which Aiden's shots didn't go through.

Aiden aimed downwards and shot again. Katty assumed that he hit its kneecap, for its legs gave out and it hit the ground. He kept trying to shoot and hit under the helmet, and Katty saw Glenn crouch to get a better look. A feeling of dread washed over her, she had a feeling what was going to happen, even before Glenn yelled.

"Aiden, stop!" Glenn sounded frantic and panicked.

Katty didn't have much time to react or take cover, before the innocent sound of a pin bouncing off the ground hit her eardrums like a hurricane. It was shortly followed by the loudest noise and force she had ever encountered and it knocked Katty off of her feet and into the metal shelf behind her. She felt her head bounce off of the edge and a sharp pain erupted behind her eyes, encompassing her entire head. The dark room went even darker, and she lost consciousness.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know it was short again, but at least we saw a bit of Daryl and found out what he was fiddling with in his pockets before. Some questions are brought up and expanded on next chapter, I can't wait to write it. I legit feel like this is where the ball starts rollin' for me.

Thanks for reading and lemme know if you enjoyed it!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: She felt like her heart was about to explode in her chest as she ran for someone else's life – "Glenn, move your fuckin' arse!"_


	13. Blame

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Thanks to** **Steph** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **YaoiLovinKitsune** **,** **Jean** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **and** **JenTen** **for reviewing! And everyone else that had added this to their alerts and favourites. It means a lot.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Blame

How was it that the world was dark _and_ spinning at the same time? She couldn't open her eyes – or maybe she could and the room was just that dark. Different noises faded in and out, but the only constant was the ringing.

"The gate's open, they're out!"

Blood rushed through her ears once more, and the muffled voices turned to background noise once again. Katty could feel her eyes rolling in their sockets, trying to force themselves open. It was like when she tried to force her body to wake up from a nightmare, and they just wouldn't cooperate.

"Eugene! Are they breathing?"

Only this time, she was trying to wake herself into a real nightmare.

"Katty's waking up and – and I can't see if Tara is from here."

What happened? Why did they sound so frantic? What happened to Tara?

Katty thought her eyes opened briefly, but they couldn't have actually. The world hadn't been so dark and thick with dust and debris before. The ringing was settling itself, and Katty tried to resist scrunching her eyes together. Her head was throbbing. Her lungs felt coated and webbed with dust, and she tried to cough. Her reflexes wouldn't cooperate, and Katty took a quick count of her body. All her parts seemed to still be attached. Nothing felt to be broken. Something warm and sticky was running down the back of her neck.

Right.

Glenn yelling at Aiden to stop, the explosion. She hit her head. Katty realized dully that she was bleeding and decided it was time to get the fuck up.

"Eugene, this one's yours."

As if the realization was enough, her body finally cooperated and her eyes blinked open. Eugene was standing between her awkward spread and positioned legs, his gun drawn. She blinked a few times, the room was still an incoherent mix of spinning and blurry. Slowly, she shoved herself to an upright position, her body still feeling like a ragdoll.

Eugene was focussed, he didn't notice her movement. Katty realized that he had his gun fixated on the looming figure of a Biter, and that he was shaking. So much so that the other one, silently slumping towards him on his right, didn't pass the threshold of senses for Eugene to acknowledge.

Katty tried to say something, but her tongue felt thick. Like her mouth was full of gauze and wool.

Her fingers twitched, and she grabbed the handle of a knife that was still within her reach, wrapped around her thigh. The world blurred slightly, and Katty grimaced. Hopefully she wouldn't nail Eugene.

She threw it, and from her awkward position on the floor, it was a miracle that it missed Eugene and barely stuck in the front of the Biter's forehead. In front of the undead, Eugene visibly jumped and turned to meet it.

Katty soon grasped that the luck had not been all that fortunate, for the body of the Biter slumped forward and fell on top of Eugene, who collapsed on top of the majority of her lower body and midsection with a startled yell.

The force of impact made an involuntary cough leave her, and Katty was just glad she didn't vomit on poor Eugene.

The world spun again and Katty couldn't resist scrunching her eyes. The pain made her grit her teeth and the noise of crunching skulls barely registered in her mind. Right, there had been another Biter.

She opened her eyes in time to see Glenn heave himself over a wall of fallen boxes, and turn to shoot a Biter on the other side. Glenn helped shove the body of the decayed person off of Eugene, and Eugene scrambled to move from his position on top of Katty.

"Katty," he gasped out, "You have my thanks for gettin' that one."

Katty snorted, "Just glad I didn't cut your pretty hair," No one laughed, and she didn't blame them.

Glenn and Noah were suddenly on either side of her, and they both clasped their hands under each of her shoulders, pulling her up like she didn't weigh anything. Her vision went black for a second at the change in altitude, and Katty forced her legs to plant under her, steady for when either Glenn or Noah let go. Her head throbbed even harder. Katty hoped with a grit of her teeth that she wasn't concussed.

"Eugene," Glenn grunted at him. He immediately sprung to Katty's side and took the place of Glenn in holding her up.

"You two get Katty to the office," Glenn instructed quickly. "I'll get Tara. Go!"

With that, he jumped back over the fallen boxes and away from them. Katty's heart lurched at the disappearance of her friend. If she had been able to, she definitely would have followed him.

"I got her," Eugene grunted, and Katty let out an embarrassing squeak as Eugene practically threw her over his shoulder. If the world hadn't stopped spinning, she was sure she would have chundered down the back of his shirt.

"I'll get the door," Noah stated hurriedly, and Katty assumed by his footsteps that he went ahead of them to clear the way. From her standpoint over Eugene's meaty shoulder, she wasn't entirely sure.

"Nicholas, over here!" she heard Noah call out to the Alexandrian. They were still moving, and another set of footsteps joined them briefly before she heard a door swing open. They were missing someone, Katty thought blearily. Who was it again?

All Katty could rely on in those brief moments were noises, and she strained her ears. It had been almost quiet, the only sounds emanating around them being the panting breaths of their own and growling from nearby Biters.

She grunted in surprised as her body was reoriented and Eugene set her on a metal surface.

"You're alright to run if we have to?" Noah asked her quickly. He turned around to look her over briefly before he faced the window once again, on the lookout for Glenn with Tara.

"Yeah, just bumped my head," Katty blew it off. She had no idea if her legs worked yet, but she'd be damned if anyone died trying to carry her body out of there. She flexed and swung her legs as a test, thankful that everything seemed to be in order and nothing stung with pain.

"What about Aiden? What happened?" she asked once she realized the other missing face.

No one said anything for a while, and Katty turned to Nicholas. He didn't meet her gaze right away, and she felt her blood run cold.

"No," she said firmly, disbelieving the somber air that answered her. Evidently, Katty didn't like Aiden. That hadn't changed in the span of a few hours that he actually demonstrated that he _wasn't_ completely idiotic. Losing another life, however, was always sad. Especially considering the people that he was leaving behind.

Nicholas met her eyes with an angry look, one that she knew wasn't directed at her. Anger that he had lost a friend.

They were interrupted by Noah's loud hiss of, "Fuck." Katty turned towards him and attempted to look around his body to see what he had cursed at.

"Clear a spot, Tara doesn't look good," he called at them, his hand on the door handle.

Katty decided to test her luck and slid hurriedly off of the metal desk top. It worked, and her legs caught her. She stumbled out of the way as Noah ripped open the door and Glenn stumbled in with Tara. Noah slammed the door behind him and effectively stopped the undead snapping at his heels from getting in. The glass squeaked gratingly as the Biters clawed at the windows, falling over each other to see the group between the gaps in the blinds. Katty's stomach churned.

Her attention turned back to Glenn, who laid Tara on the countertop as gently as possible with the help of the other men. Tara was supine now, and Katty wasn't happy to see the stains of new blood on her face.

Katty unapologetically pushed past Aiden and Noah and shoved herself closer to Tara. The four men surrounding the table briefly looked panicked as to what to do for their friend, and Katty decided to take initiative.

"Secure the door," she snapped, "Me and Eugene got this."

The other three jumped, and moved towards the door and windows. Katty glanced at Eugene, who looked horrified at the amount of blood that was pooling around Tara's head.

"Make sure she's breathing, then find a pulse," Katty instructed, shoving her jacket off in a rushed manor. She pulled it off, the arms now inside-out, but she didn't bother to fix it.

"It's weak, it's there but it's weak," Eugene confirmed, his index and middle placed lightly on the underside of Tara's jaw. Katty nodded and carefully tucked her jacket around Tara's head.

"Helps with the bleeding and stops her head from jostling around," she muttered, more to herself. Katty couldn't stand the silence and felt the need to uselessly explain herself to someone that already likely knew what she was doing.

"How is she?" Glenn asked breathlessly. He was back beside them the instant that they had finished securing the office.

The blinds were now all turned down on all the windows, with a few larger objects in places where the blinds were bent. There were still Biters clamoring along the windows, snapping irritably and hungrily.

"She has serious head trauma, she's losing blood fast," Eugene stated grimly, his eyes flickering from in between the unconscious girl and Glenn. His hand didn't move from Tara's pulse point, keeping track of her condition best he could.

"How do we stop it?" Noah asked calmly and directly.

Katty scanned the room quickly, looking for anything to use. This was a warehouse, there had to be some form of First Aid Kit somewhere in here. She bounced around the room promptly. Nothing. Many drawers were pulled out or overturned, and the side tables were bare of anything useful. There was fuck all in here.

"Who has the First Aid kit we brought?" she asked after she had exhausted all the possible hiding places in the office.

"Med kit is in Aiden's pack. Blown to shit by now," Nicholas answered her. Katty resisted asking what happened. It wasn't what was important right now, she reminded herself. Aiden most likely got killed in the explosion. She felt heartless thinking that, but they'd lose another if they stalled to grieve.

"There's another in the back of the van," Glenn added, flicking his gaze between Eugene and Katty. Katty tried to remember where the van was parked, her brows furrowing. She wished there was a way to move Tara without throwing her body around and possibly causing more damage.

"She's on her way out," Eugene retorted, sweat now running down his face and his eyes panicked. "We need to get her there _now_."

"Alright, we'll get her there," Glenn firmly said, his eyes grazing over Tara's face once more. Katty believed his tone. Her blood surged and she moved back over to the crowd of them. They were going to make sure Tara got out.

Before they had time to discuss a plan to get Tara to the van, a disturbing noise filled their ears. A pain-filled, guttural groan sounded over the growling and snapping of the Biters, and Katty felt a chill run up her spine. It sounded unbelievably human, and not in the way that the Biters were late humans. Someone was alive.

Noah dashed to the window and peered around the blinds. "Fuck," he breathed for the second time that afternoon.

Nicholas and Glenn were beside him in an instant, with Katty looking around Glenn's other side. Their expression's turned grim, and she squinted, trying to see what it was.

Her stomach lurched and bile rose into her throat when her gaze finally fixed on what had caused the noise. Aiden, pinned to the wall, impaled twice. Once through his left shoulder and the second, larger one, through the middle of his abdomen. Katty felt her breath hitch, scanning the area around him. The Biters hadn't noticed him yet. If he continued to make noise, that wouldn't last long.

She chewed her lower lip, her eyes scanning over his battered body and Katty tried to run the numbers in her mind. Calculate Aiden's chances for survival. Not good, she thought grimly. Even if they were to somehow manage to pull him off. Poor son of a bitch would have been better off killed during the explosion, rather than ripped apart by Biters or living his last few moments in excruciating pain.

"He's alive?" Glenn asked, incredulous, and directed his attention towards Nicholas. Katty ripped her eyes away from Aiden to stare at Nicholas as well.

Nicholas' face was stark white as he stared out the window with wide eyes. "I checked him," he stuttered out, disbelief written clearly on his face. "I thought –"

"They haven't noticed him yet," Katty interrupted. There was no use in blaming Nicholas or anyone else. "We have to decide _now_ if we're going to try to get to him." Katty was unsure where she stood on the issue.

"It's going to take three of us," Glenn said immediately, and Katty glanced towards him, slightly ashamed. Glenn didn't hesitate to decide that they should try. If there was the slimmest, fighting chance, it was worth it to Glenn. Even for someone that wasn't their family.

Katty flinched when she realized that she had referred to the group as her _family_ , and then turned back to Glenn. Only one thing to do.

"I'll go with you," she volunteered. Katty had to make sure that Glenn made it out and didn't go down as a martyr. For both his and Maggie's benefit.

"No," Noah immediately disagreed. Katty turned to him, confused. "You barely regained consciousness five minutes ago. You help Eugene get Tara out to the van."

Katty opened her mouth to argue. She was more than confident that Eugene could manage Tara on his own. He had a look in his eye that stated that. Tara wasn't going to die on his watch.

"Noah's right," Eugene stated from behind her. "You could have a concussion or a subdural hematoma. They won't be able to get Aiden and you out if shit goes down."

She couldn't find any words to argue with them. Katty hated it, but she knew it was for the best that she didn't go. It killed her, knowing that she couldn't go with them to make sure they got out.

"If we pull him off, we'll kill him," Nicholas interjected, and Katty bristled at his words. It was _his_ friend, and he was the one suggesting that they left him. She could see the fear in his eyes at the prospect of going into the thick of the Biters again.

Noah snapped his attention towards Nicholas. "What, you're saying we leave him?" he asked, his tone irritated and accusatory. Nicholas didn't say anything in response immediately, just scanned Noah's face quickly. _Yes_.

Eugene let out a rough, frustrated breath of air from his mouth. "Go," he urged. "Save him." His eyes flickered down to Tara's ashen face. "She'd do it. I _know_ she would. I'll stay with her, I'll keep her safe, I assure you." Eugene looked around the room and his gaze landed on Katty once more.

" _We will_." He added as if he could read her mind.

Glenn only momentarily paused before addressing the two other men that would accompany him. "Alright, we'll knock 'em back." He said and then jutted a hand out at Nicholas. "You still have that flare?" Nicholas nodded. "Chuck it over the shelves, it'll draw some of them over." They made their way to the locked door, and Katty felt the guttural urge to follow them. "We hit the rest hand to hand. Ready?" He looked at Noah and Nicholas briefly for confirmation. They both nodded. "Alright, go!"

The door was ripped open, and Nicholas shot a bright red flare off, away from them and into the shelves on the far side. Katty watched as the three men moved through the thin but still dangerous crowd of Biters. They allowed the majority of them to get distracted by the red flare gun, and knocked others down, as planned.

"They're going to fucking make it," Katty could feel the panic in her chest, the constriction and pain rising in her chest at the prospect that some of her friends may not make it back. So she talked to herself.

"Glenn still has to grow old and die happy with Maggie. She's got to get knocked up the duff, they have to have their little army of ass kicking babies that I get to play with. I'll give 'em back when they shit though, I'm not down for that." she muttered to herself, uncaring if Eugene was listening or not.

"Noah has to grow old and turn Alexandria into a fucking _castle_ like I know he will. He's going to sit on his rocking chair one day with a beer and just watch the community that he helped build and change and watch all the lives that he forever altered for the better."

"They're going to make it," Katty whispered, staring at them now that they had finally reached Aiden. It was difficult to see, between random bodies of Biters and the remnants of the explosion floating through the air.

It was almost scary, how attached she was already. She went from literally having no one to having people that referred to her as family. Katty hadn't truly seen either male in action, so she just had to hope that they were competent and could take care of themselves without her.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that Eugene's muttering words almost made her jump.

"I take no responsibility for this," he spoke softy to Tara, but even without turning around, Katty could tell he was beyond upset. "I told you what I was. You should've listened." She wondered what he meant by that, what had happened previously between himself and the rest of them. Katty hadn't thought much of Eugene not wanting to come to the warehouse today, she chalked it up to the fact that _of course_ he didn't want to go back outside after finally finding a safe house. Maybe something else had happened.

"All of you, you should've listened." He muttered, and Katty turned to see him in a mix between fighting off tears and holding back anger.

Katty looked over Tara once more and immediately had the urge to slap herself. What the fuck was she doing, worrying about two able bodied people when Tara was laying on the table dying?

Her and Eugene seemed to realize this at the same time, and both locked eyes with determination shining through.

Like a beacon on a foggy night, Eugene's attention snapped to something behind Katty, and she turned. Through the window was the exit sign, and beyond that, the door was cracked open and illuminated by the leftover sunlight of the day.

Katty pulled her machete from her hip and swung it around in a short test. She quickly reached the doorknob and looked over at Eugene.

"Ready to roll, mullet boy?"

Eugene just nodded stiffly and firmly and carefully pulled Tara over his shoulder, much like how Katty had been earlier.

As soon as Eugene looked settled with their patient, Katty carefully opened the door. It was pretty quiet on their front, a few Biters that were straggling behind in an attempt to either get to the dimming flare or to where the four other people were. Katty quickly disposed of them, swinging her machete with all of her weight. She felt the splatter against her skin that she had become so familiar with before Alexandria. The telltale that she was becoming covered with the smell of decay.

Two pops sounded beside her, and she jumped to look at Eugene. Seemingly without hesitation, he had taken out two undead, one after the other. Katty didn't let herself take time to be surprised, she just hurried along, clearing the path for him to safely cross the warehouse to the exit door.

The light that flooded their senses momentarily blinded them both. Eugene stumbled behind her, and Katty circled back to steady him while he tried to balance the extra weight over his shoulder.

"Move, I got her!" he yelled gruffly at her, and Katty nodded in return. She stepped behind him, slashing apart and decapitating a few more Biters. Katty could feel the muscles in her left arm screaming, and switched arms. Her right arm wasn't as agile, but it would do.

Sidestepped Eugene, Katty ran ahead to the van after clearing the surrounding environment. She flung the doors open and cleared an appropriate space for Tara. Climbing in, Katty helped Eugene lay her supine on the metal floor of the van. There were extra blankets, and Katty immediately worked to tuck them around her.

Eugene shut the back of the van and then appeared in the driver's seat.

"I don't seem them," he observed anxiously, and Katty looked up briefly at the door while she ripped the Medical Kit open.

"Maybe they decided to chance the front entrance?" she mused, just as anxious for the other members of their group. "What do we do?" Katty asked him, grabbing the entire wad of gauze and towels and carefully applying firm pressure to Tara's scalp.

Eugene didn't hesitate, he turned the engine and started to drive around the large building. Katty didn't question him when he scanned through the playlist CD for the first song they had listened to. It was the most obnoxious, and would cause the most distraction for any Biters nearby.

"Eugene, you're a fuckin' genius."

It didn't take long before they reached the other side of the building. Glancing up from Tara, she saw that it was just as inhabited as previously, though for some reason, the Biters seemed to be crowding around the front revolving door.

"Fuck," Eugene swore loudly. "They're in trouble."

Katty could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She felt like she was going to throw up, and she wasn't sure if it was because she was concussed or from sheer nerves.

"Stop out front, I'm getting out." She said solidly.

"There's too many." Eugene denied her request immediately, still driving towards the front door.

"I'm covered in guts, Eugene, they won't even notice me," she snapped. "I've tucked Tara in enough that if you don't drive like a maniac, she'll be alright. Lead them off when I'm out and I'll catch up with everyone else after. Circle again if you have trouble losing them."

There was no changing her mind now. Katty had been denied earlier, but she wouldn't be now. They had gotten Tara to the van and started First Aid. It was time to get everyone else out.

"Fuck!" Eugene snapped. "You best not get yourself eaten," he growled as he pulled to a stop in front of the door. "Go now!"

Katty glanced around quickly, grabbed the semi-automatic shotgun that they still had in the van. It must have been extra, she mused. She didn't say a word as she jumped out of the back of the van and slammed the back, just stumbled away as Eugene whistled a few times and revved the van at the crowd of undead and drove off.

They were trapped.

Behind her friends, there was a large crowd of Biters, pulling at and ramming their decrepit bodies into the revolving door. It was horrifying, seeing the three terrified face imprisoned in a rotating door. Glenn and Noah were stuck in one section, while Nicholas was in the opposite opening, across from them.

Her stomach lurched as she took in the scene. There wasn't a way for either of them to push and get out without sacrificing the other. They'd have to find a way to break the door.

The snapping and snarling pulled her out of her frantic thoughts. There were still a few loitering around, ones that hadn't followed Eugene. They were ignoring her completely, so she decided to keep it that way. Quietly, Katty shouldered the shotgun and worked to get rid of the last straggling Biters. She noticed grimly that Aiden wasn't with them.

"Katty, what the _hell_ are you doing?" She heard Glenn yell at her through the glass.

Katty sent him an incredulous look. "Saving your sorry arses. Duh."

She paused in front of the door, scanning the integrity of it, hoping she would miraculously find a weak point in the structure.

"Nicholas, I'm going to try to break it again," Glenn called over to the man on the other side, who looked terrified. He held the butt of the gun in his hands, and started smashing the window with it.

The glass bowed slightly, and Katty could see the scratch marks it was leaving. However, the noise made the violent herd trying to get at them more excitable, and they pulled at the doors harder.

The banging also dislodged the door slightly, moving it so a few inches on Nicholas' side was exposed and open to the herd. Nicholas let out a panicked yell and scrambled to push his side of the door closed.

"You're trying to kill me!"

"Shut the fuck up, he's doing the best he can," Katty snapped irritably at Nicholas. This was taking too long. She took a few paces back and pulled the shotgun from her shoulder. "Duck, I'm going to try to shoot it!"

"This was the plan all along!" Nicholas shouted. "You're going to leave me to distract them."

Katty felt time slow down as she stared at Nicholas. He started pushing on his side of the door. The only noise that filtered through her ears was white noise as she watched the faces of Glenn and Noah scream at Nicholas.

She raised the shotgun and positioned it like she had seen Calum do all those times, shoving the butt firmly into her shoulder.

The thought struck her briefly that she _should_ just aim for Nicholas. Kill him to save her own. Would anyone blame her? Would she blame herself?

Tara's face flashed into her mind, and Eugene's voice echoed in her ears. " _Save him. She'd do it. I know she would_." And she couldn't. Katty aimed higher than his head and pulled the trigger, hoping that she wouldn't flinch hard enough to kill anyone.

Luckily, they all had the insight to duck and cover their heads, and Katty didn't hit anyone. The glass shattered in front of Nicholas, and he staggered back from the impact. It had distracted him enough that he stopped forcing his half of the door open, but it caused him to fall backwards and into the door.

Katty quickly turned her sights to Glenn and Noah, who were still hunched to the ground, and fired a round above them. It shattered, and Katty felt her heart lift slightly. Everyone was going to be okay.

Nicholas let out another strangled yell, and Katty jerked her attention back to the other male. He had fallen into the door behind him, which forced his section of the revolving door open more, and Biters were reaching in for him.

Faster than she could react, Nicholas scrambled away, and fell forward into the frame that had held the glass and was still very much attached to the rest of the door. Panicking, he shoved it forward in his attempts to escape and shoved past everything.

"NO!"

Glenn and Noah's side mirrored Nicholas' section and had opened. There were multiple sets of hands gripping Noah and attempting to pull him back into the confines of the warehouse lobby. Glenn was gripping Noah as tight as he could, but Katty could see his revolve and his time slipping away.

She started to run. Noah wasn't going to make it. Katty had to interfere. Even if it meant her secret would be compromised. She wouldn't be sticking around for much longer anyways.

Glenn's hands slipped from Noah, and he was pulled back. Glenn, horrified, scooted back and away from where he and his friend had been bargaining for life, his eyes locked on Noah.

She felt like her heart was about to explode as she ran for someone else's life. "Glenn! Move your fuckin' arse!"

Glenn didn't move. He was frozen. Katty grunted as she gripped the back of his jacket, pulled and swung him as fast as she could away from the door. His shocked form skidded and rolled away a few feet, but Katty didn't stop to check on him. She threw herself into the revolving door and pushed her way past.

Noah was screaming, she could tell from his wide open mouth. But she couldn't hear him over the horrifying, snapping and snarling noises of the mob. Katty felt arms and hands and everything awful on her, but she didn't stop to think. Noah's eyes were locked, glued to hers, and all she could see was him.

Katty grabbed a knife from her leg, swinging and smashing it into anything that appeared in her peripheral. She felt something sharp and grating pull it way down her upper arm. It was unmistakably hot and seared her, making her yelp.

She was running out of time. Stabbing another one looming over Nicholas shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his middle and jumped backwards as hard as she could. They both fell backwards, Katty's back landing hard in the pile of glass that had accumulated on the floor.

Noah landed on top of her with a grunt, and two Biters on top of him. Katty tried to swing her arm out, impale the Biter with her knife. Her arms were stuck around Noah's back, under the Biters.

Time seemed to slow down again. She watched in horror as the closest one opened it jaw. A disgusting combination of saliva, blood, old guts and skin dripped out of its unlatched mouth. The Biter clamped its mouth on Noah's shoulder, and he let out a gut wrenching scream. It jerked it's face away, effectively ripping away a portion of flesh from Noah's shoulder.

Katty could only stare in horror. She would never be able to describe that feeling to anyone. Watching as a person, who's close enough that you can feel their breath on your face, being ripped into. She was a failure. Useless. Numb. Hopeless.

She had failed her family.

Suddenly, her ears were ringing and she was, again, being splattered with blood and guts. Why were the Biters above them both dead?

Glenn appeared in her peripheral, but she didn't turn her head. Noah encompassed her entire visual field, his wide, scared eyes staring into hers. The pressure decreased as Glenn shoved the bodies off of them both. He even had to pull Noah off of Katty; neither of them were able to move.

"Move! Move! They're not going to hold for long!"

Katty sat up and looked at the reason why the mob hadn't started ripping them apart yet. When Noah and herself had fallen, the remaining panels of the door had swung around as well, creating a new barrier. The Biters that had slipped threw were now piled and half caught under the revolving door.

"Katty! Get the _fuck_ up!"

She was being lurched up again by the back of her shirt and shoulders, and thrown to her feet. Katty couldn't see who did it, or who shoved her to run forward. But they were running. The three of them.

But it may as well have been two.

* * *

The van ride had been awful.

Glenn beat the absolute shit out of Nicholas when they reached Eugene at the van. Watching Nicholas' face get beaten in, the only thought that Katty could cohesively interpret in her cluttered mind was that she should have shot him.

Nicholas had tried to get Eugene to leave them, told him that all his friends were dead and that they had to leave.

So now they were left, Glenn driving and Eugene in the back, with a battered, dying, smaller version of the team that they had left with. Two unconscious people. One with a gun trained on him in case he woke up and tried anything. Another with a serious head trauma, that through it all, Katty was trying to do the best she could with the limited medical knowledge that she had. And another person that was wrapped in blankets, cradling his bitten shoulder, in shock. And finally, they were left with the thick, tense, morose air that the death of Aiden had left behind.

She wanted to cry. Wanted to fucking _scream_. Throw things. Hurt Nicholas for his cowardice. She was angry; at the world and at _herself_ , especially.

No one spoke. Katty couldn't bring herself to even look at the young man that she had failed. The words 'I'm sorry' repeated over and over again in her head, but she was too cowardly to say them just yet.

She was just as bad as Nicholas.

Katty glanced down at her arm. The bleeding had slowed down, but the scratch was very much visible, angry and red. She licked her lips and thought over how she was going to proceed with the linear, clean mark down her arm. Her jacket had been left behind in the office; she had used it to apply pressure to Tara's head and forgotten the bloodied fabric. In hindsight, it was probably for the better. The Biters would have paid a great deal more attention to her had she been covered with a jacket soaked in blood.

She shifted in her seat and winced. There was definitely glass in her back, and it would need to be dug out by someone. The only positive was that she could conceal the scratch as being another injury from the broken glass, and not what it was really from.

Nonetheless, she didn't want questions. She had seen Glenn glance at it briefly before while they were running, but he didn't say anything. Probably from either fear of the possible answer, or being distracted by all the injury and death that had happened that day.

So Katty looked around quickly before she folded an extra piece of gauze and taped it to her arm. It wasn't perfect, but it would do until she had a chance to take care of it better. Looking up, her heart leaped into her throat when she found Noah's eyes glued to her. He remained silent, but Katty knew he had been watching her for a while.

She attempted to keep her face blank as she peered back at him, and then moved as casually as she could back to Tara, checking her over.

"How's she doing?" Glenn asked from the driver's seat. His voice cracked a bit on the first word, the distress of the day evident.

"As good as she can," Katty answered. "We can't do much else 'til we're back."

She felt the van accelerate some after her response. "Almost there," Glenn replied grimly. "Couple minutes."

True to his word, it was a few minutes before Glenn slowed the van while whoever was manning the gate rolled it open. The van didn't stop in the usual place at the side wall near the gate, Glenn drove and stopped as close to the infirmary as he could.

Glenn threw open his door.

"HELP! I need help out here!" he yelled.

The rest of them waited in the back of the car, all in various degrees of injured. Concerned voices greeted Glenn within moments, and Katty recognized one as Deanna's. The back of the van was thrown open, and Pete was at the ready, eyes flickering between them all before landing on the two unconscious people.

"Rosita!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Stretcher," she responded breathlessly as she approached with the aforementioned transportation device. Katty held her head steady with Tara's body as they carefully slid her towards the edge of the van. Pete maneuvered her the rest of the way, and before Katty knew it, Tara had disappeared inside with Rosita and Pete.

Eugene jumped out next, and worked with another Alexandrian woman – Katty couldn't remember her name for the life of her – to get Nicholas on a matching stretcher and followed them into the infirmary. He wouldn't need much more than rest and possibly some wound care for glass lacerations, so they took their time moving him.

Noah hadn't moved, he sat frozen in the back of the van with Katty, and she looked over at him. Now, more than ever, he resemebled a young, scared boy. It hurt her heart to look at him, and she pinched herself to distract from the tears that would surely come when she was alone. His face was already losing color, Noah's skin ashen. The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding freely, and the skin around it had turned an angry shade of red. There was a yellowish discharge within the bite itself, and Katty resisted frowning at it. It was fucking awful, how fast an infection set in.

He flinched away slightly when Katty reached over and pulled a blanket snugly around his shoulders.

"We don't need everyone staring," she murmured at him, and he nodded quickly. Katty then moved away from him, wincing herself at the shooting pain in her back, and slid carefully out of the van. Standing, she held her hand out to Noah.

Slowly, he followed her and took her hand when his feet hit the ground. Katty turned around with him and looked at the scene before her. Glenn was speaking with Deanna, Maggie close by beside him. Both woman had looks of horror on their faces, and Katty looked away. She didn't want to memorize the look on Deanna's face when she found out she had lost a child.

There were quite a few people around, and Katty scanned the faces for people that belonged to Rick's group. Rick was quickly walking down with Jessie in tow behind him. Carol was approaching from a different side. There were also quite a few residents in the mix of people. She didn't know what to do with the young man beside her.

Katty turned to him and squeezed his hand lightly to get Noah's attention. "Do you want to stick around and wait for Glenn and Maggie or do you want to go home?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

He blinked a few times and glanced to where Glenn and Maggie still were. Maggie looked over briefly, said a couple words to excuse herself, and started to make her way over.

"I'm not sure what I want," he mumbled back offhandedly, and Katty scanned his face, wondering if his words were alluding to a deeper meaning.

"Thank god you two are okay," Maggie greeted once she got closer. Katty felt Noah stiffen beside her, and she cast a worried glance at him. Maggie seemed to sense immediately that something was wrong, and bounced her eyes between them both, looking for any visible injuries.

Katty let Noah make the decision. She kept quiet and calm, and waited. Noah shifted beside her and moved the blanket a bit, exposing a portion of his shoulder for Maggie.

She was surprised when Maggie resisted reacting. The other woman held her composure, reached over and squeezed Noah's arm meaningfully.

"C'mon," she said, "Let's get you home."

Taking a step, Katty winced and Maggie's eyes widened, her breath hitching. Katty shook her head solidly at her worried friend.

"I'm not – " she couldn't say the words. "I just fell in glass and there's some in my back," she explained quickly, and could feel Noah's gaze burning into the side of her face.

Maggie nodded, and then looked over to Carol, who was standing within a group of other women, waiting for news.

"Carol," she called. The older woman immediately walked over, her eyes looking over the exhausted forms of Noah and Katty. "Katty's going to need help dressing some wounds," she explained quickly.

Carol nodded, looked over Noah again briefly and then settled back on Katty. "I'm just going to grab some supplies. Wait for me in their kitchen," she instructed, gesturing to Maggie and Noah, "we'll have more space to work there," Carol explained. Katty nodded numbly. The last thing she cared about was her back right now, incidentally.

They ran into Michonne and another woman with a deeper skin tone and hair pulled back in a ponytail. Katty hadn't been introduced to her before, but she had seen her a few times, headed up in the watch tower or manning the front gate. Now wasn't the time for introductions, though.

Both woman seemed to sense that something wasn't right with their friend. It wasn't difficult, considering what Noah now looked like in comparison to when he left. Michonne sent a couple hand signals to Rick, who nodded in response from his place next to Deanna and Glenn. Spencer and Reg had now joined them as well, and the Monroe family looked devastated. Katty refused to stay long enough to catch the eye of any of them, and continued walking with the small group.

Her hand was still clutched in Noah's.

* * *

Katty was sitting facing backward on a chair with her shirt off. 'Uncomfortable' would barely describe how she felt. Katty sat at the table as Carol dug ground glass out of her back. She had already looking over the scrape on the back of her head, and cleaned that one up. That felt like nothing compared to tweezers in her back.

It was into the evening now, and Noah had been put up in his downstairs bedroom. The rest of Rick's group had been assembled, and were all congregated in various places around the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Glenn was talking to Rick outside, as the officer had wanted a retelling of what had happened today. She could tell how drained Glenn was, how miserable and tired he was from their day as well as from retelling the horrific tale multiple times. He mentioned that Deanna had wanted to interview him about the entire ordeal, and had even filmed it. That made Katty's stomach twist in rage, but she decided to put it aside. The woman had lost a child, examining details was probably her way of dealing with it.

She let out a hash gasp as Carol dug particularly hard in one spot on her shoulder. Carol didn't mutter so much as a sorry, which Katty appreciated. She didn't want to continuously reassure the woman that 'it's okay', and they stuck to the unexpressed words. They had been working on her back for over an hour now. Her shirt had ridden up when they had fallen; there were shards in her shoulder and upper back along with the lower third of her back.

"Almost done," Carol said calmly from behind her. Katty hissed as Carol swiped something over the entirety of her upper and lower back that stung.

"Fucking shit, Carol," Katty bit out while Carol covered the deeper lacerations with a mix of plasters and gauze.

Carol ignored her complaint and motioned towards her arm which was still roughly wrapped from before. "Take that off I'll clean and redress it," her tone was no-nonsense, and Katty did her best to act nonsuspicious.

"It's fine," she quickly answered and shook her head. So much for inconspicuous. "I did the majority of it in the van. I'll change it before I go to bed." Katty had forgotten about the scratch on her arm. It throbbed painfully, now that it was brought to her attention.

Carol quirked an eyebrow at Katty's dismissal, and glanced back down at her arm. It really did look bad. Trying to wrap an arm one handed while someone was driving was not an easy task.

"It's just another cut from glass?" Carol asked, her eyes fixed on Katty's. Katty had been there when Glenn had recounted the tale to the rest of the group. He had, in fact, told them that Katty had practically thrown herself into the crowd of Biters to get Noah out. They had been shocked that she had been fortunate enough not to receive a bite, even a scratch.

Katty cringed. If only they knew.

"Yeah, we fell pretty hard," she supplied. "I took most of it."

Eugene and Abraham appeared from the hallway, both without smiles or bright eyes.

The group had been going in individually or in pairs on and off to have words with Noah. The fever had set in and he was having difficulty concentrating on more than a couple people at a time. He had steadily gone downhill in the past few hours, and he would probably pass before the sun rose again.

There was almost a constant string of wet eyes and sniffling sounds as people left Noah's room. Katty decided that she wouldn't cry when she said goodbye to Noah. After everyone else, that was probably the last thing that he wanted to see.

Rick and Glenn reappeared shortly after Eugene and Abraham, and now everyone was collected in the house together. Daryl would be upset when he got back, Katty mused. She looked up to see Abraham watching her.

"He wanted me to make sure that you were goin' to head in and talk to him after you were done gettin' patched up," Abraham said softly, and Katty nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go in now if he wants," she replied, and Eugene nodded.

"He does."

"Katty," Rick interrupted. "I'd like some words with you too, when you're done."

She shivered slightly, wondering what that entailed exactly. He probably just wanted more details, Katty hoped.

Carol helped her put a clean shirt on. Her back felt incredibly sore and throbbed uncomfortably as every movement, so she was appreciative. Katty thanked her again for cleaning and dressing her wounds and headed towards Noah.

The walk down that hallway had never felt so long. Every step she took felt like it echoed and reverberated up her spine and through the halls. Everything was crisp and clear, and Katty knew that this was another moment in her life that she would never forget.

She knocked softly, but it sounded like a gunshot in a way.

A cough answered. "Come on in, join the party." Noah replied sarcastically.

Maybe this would be peaceful and she and Noah both would leave filled with closure.

Opening the door silently and walking in, Katty changed her mind. She already wanted to cry. Maybe everyone else had the same thoughts as she did. That they wouldn't cry, but ended up anyways.

Noah was propped up in bed, with a copious number of pillows around him. Michonne and Sasha had done their best to make him comfortable, and Noah also had a white sheet draped around his middle.

His usually rich skintone was ashen and sickly looking, with sweat running down his face. Noah smiled at her, but it looked more like a grimace. His eyes were bloodshot and had defines bags under them. Looking at her, Noah seemed to have trouble focussing on Katty; his eyes were slipping in and out of focus.

The bite on his shoulder was covered, which Katty was glad for. She wanted to focus on him, not a condition or an infection. Remember Noah for who he was.

She walked over to him and slid a hand over his forehead, wiping some of the sweat away.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured at him, already feeling the tears prick her eyes as he looked up at her, "This is all my fault."

He shook his head slightly at her, not breaking eye contact. "It's not. I get to say goodbye instead of being ripped apart, Katty. You _gave_ me that."

She sat gingerly beside him on the bed, careful not to disturb his pillows. Her hand slid from his face but Noah caught hers in his own clammy one.

Katty didn't know what to say to that. So she just sent him a watery smile.

"I don't want to talk about blame," he rasped out. She did. There was so much of it to go around. Herself and Nicholas especially. "I wanted to ask you some questions."

Her brows pinched together. "About what?"

Noah's eyes scanned over her face, never leaving it, as if he'd miss something.

" _The scratch on your arm_."

* * *

 **A/N** : Hello, you! Thanks for finishing another one. Sorry to everyone that wanted me to save Noah. I debated over it for a while, and rewrote this chapter a time or two. This was another one that was hard to write, and the next one will be too. Some More Daryl in the next one as well!

Don't forget to review!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: "You have to promise me," – "Anything," – "Promise that you'll tell them someday."_


	14. Fast

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Celebrating the 100's today. :) This story is officially over 100,000 words and over 100 reviews! You guys blow my mind; I'm still surprised that anyone is reading this!**

 **Sorry it's been a month since I've updated. I actually had some of this done a few days after I wrote the last chapter, but I suddenly got really busy with life. It feels like ages, I actually reread the last few chapters to get myself back into it. I have a bit more of a consistent schedule now so hopefully I will get back into the swing of things easier. Thanks for the patience and encouraging words, everyone.**

 **Thank you to** **LeAnn388** **,** **ElectroGirl444** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **Steph** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Olivia** **,** **writingNOOB** **,** **purple-pygmy-puff16** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **bakaneko7** **,** **JenTen** ** & ****Bactrian Camel** **for reviewing and thank you to everyone new that has added the story to their alerts or their favourites!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 14: Fast

" _The scratch on your arm."_

For being so sickly and pale looking, Noah's voice rang clear and deep and struck her to her very core. Katty _knew_ her heart had to have stopped in that moment, and that her face gave away the verification of the scratch instantly. She decided to play it off anyways, though a little voice in her head said that it was useless.

"Yeah," she said, and looked down at the aforementioned limb. "Fell pretty hard in the glass, it cut me up kinda badly. Carol just spent over an hour picking glass out of –"

"Katty," Noah interrupted. His forehead was creased and he looked slightly irritated. "I saw it happen. I know it wasn't the glass that scratched you."

Her breath caught in her throat as Noah called her out bluntly on her lie. She noticed that he didn't name it though. _A Walker scratched you._ That was what they called them, right? Katty's throat was dry.

Noah's gaze fixed on the clean bandage around her arm. "Show me," he demanded, his voice trembling with unshed emotion. He was angry, Katty decided. He thinks I'm going to end up killing everyone.

Instead, she tried in vain to distract him again. "You've spoken to _everyone_ ," she said incredulously, her tone low. Katty glanced over her shoulder to make sure the door was shut securely. "Why haven't you told everyone?"

"I wanted to give you the courtesy that you gave me," Noah spoke softly this time. "You made sure I wasn't put on show for the entire town, and I appreciate that. I wanted to give the same back." His dark, tired eyes held hers once more, an intensity that didn't suit his young face. It made her eyes burn with the need to cry.

She didn't respond right away, so Noah continued, in a much smaller voice. "It's my fault. You shouldn't have been hurt. _I've killed you._ " He spat out, angry at himself.

Her heart wrenched, and she felt conflicted. She had two options. Katty could admit to the scratch and agree that she was, in fact, infected and dying. Or she could tell him the truth. The small, selfish part of her, the one that wanted to protect herself, screamed in her ear to tell him that she was dying.

He would die thinking he killed her.

She couldn't let him die with that on his conscience. Noah didn't deserve that. That was her choice, not his. He couldn't be punished for her carelessness.

Shaking, Katty's hand reached and clumsily pulled the bandage off of her arm. She refused to look down, and locked her nervous eyes on his face. Katty watched as his gaze retreated downwards, and felt it burn into the long scratch on her arm.

Slowly, his hand reached up to the still bleeding wound on his shoulder. His face looked confused, and suddenly his stare was back on her face, scanning her all over.

"It – it's stopped bleeding," Noah whispered, flickering his frantic eyes from her face to her arm.

She hesitated. "Yeah," Katty confirmed lamely, her voice cracking. What else could she say?

Confusion, panic, fear, fatigue, too many emotions littered his face for Katty to count or even attempt to name as they appeared and disappeared simultaneously. The expression, however, pleaded with her to continue. She couldn't find the words, though, and just stared at him.

"How is that possible," he breathed. "I've seen people get bit, get scratched." Noah continued to himself. "You should be running a fever by now. It should be more red, more infected – more _everything_."

She wanted to look at the floor, anywhere but him. But Katty found she couldn't look away from the younger man, and felt defeated; tired.

"I'm immune."

The room was cold and quiet and you would have been able to hear a pin drop or a cockroach scuttle across the floor. Neither of them breathed for a few seconds, and Katty wished she was better at reading people. What the fuck was he thinking?

Noah glanced at her arm again. Every movement he made was amplified for Katty as she waited for his response. The impending anger, denial, dismissal of her words.

"Oh," he finally said, and Katty choked on her spit.

"What?" she stuttered out at him, disbelieving.

"They ignore you," he muttered to himself. Noah's brow was furrowed and he spoke quietly, the gravelly tone echoing in her ears as he held a dialogue with himself.

"They ignored you back when we were outside and one went after Tara. _'I'm not really on their radar,'_ " he repeated the words she had said to Tara when she had asked her why it had moved past her. "They ignored you when you jumped out of the van. The only point that the Walker actually noticed you was when you were up close, and you had Tara's blood on your hands."

Katty's heart was pounding excessively hard, blood rushing in her ears. It had been so long since she had told anyone, the last person to know had been Merle. And he hadn't known long enough to ask many questions before she escaped Woodbury.

"They see me sometimes," Katty finally found her voice, and decided to clarify it to Noah. What did she have to lose, telling a dying boy, Katty questioned herself bitterly. "If I make too much noise or get too close. They get confused, scratch me sometimes. I've only been bit once though."

She hurriedly undid her pants and shoved them halfway down her thighs, not caring about dignity or privacy anymore. Noah's eyes immediately attached to the mark – the scar – on her right hip.

Katty didn't have to look down to remember what it looked like.

A perfect indent from an intact set of teeth. The Biter had clamped down on her skin through the leggings she had been wearing at the time. It was an ugly, uneven terrain of scar tissue. Uneven in texture and in color. Some of the shallower points were pale in color, lighter than her skin. The rest was decorated in various degrees of red, some points angrier looking than others. A spattering of light bruising was laced around it. The bruises did change. Some would heal, and then reappear a few hours later. Like the wound had altered the composition of her skin permanently; made the surrounding blood vessels fragile and easily ruptured.

"It still hurts," she added, once the silence and Noah's stare had become too much for her. It was true. Katty was so accustomed to having it that she often didn't think of the bite every second of the day. But moments that her mind was focussed on the scar, it would throb, a dull pain that she was used to.

Noah reached out a hand and traced it lightly, his clammy hands felt like ice in comparison to the temperature of her skin. Even though the motion had been expected, it still made her flinch. Much like when Rick had patted her down the first day here and accidently touched the mark. If Noah had noticed her flinch, he ignored it.

"How did it happen?" he asked finally, his gaze still locked on her hip.

* * *

Naïve. That could have been the only word used to describe her group.

They had been settled outside of Atlanta for almost two weeks. Reflecting back on their setup, Katty was surprised they had even lasted that long. They were loud at their quietest, and most of them were unaccustomed to camping for a weekend let alone living outside.

There were thirteen of them. Lumped together when the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had been evacuated. When they had been forced out of the city from sheer overpopulation and the obvious notion that there was no help there, they had all watched from the packed highway as military aircrafts dropped napalm bombs on the city.

Circumstance felt like chains.

Katty selfishly only kept to Tyler in the beginning. She didn't bother to learn more than a few names of the other people in the group. On the surface, she was friendly, but it was a shallow front and one that the rest probably saw through.

Tyler was conventionally good looking, athletic and charming, and easily made friends with everyone. It irritated Katty, and made her resent him. That he adapted so easily to their new environment whereas she only felt worn out. They had been on their way to stay with her father in Florida, when the pilot's voice had calmly explained that the flight would be momentarily inconvenienced and rerouted to Atlanta. He offered no explanation as to why, and Katty had merely shrugged and slid her eye mask back on. Maybe they had miscalculated how much gas the plane would need.

After a lot of panic, yelling, and announcements over the intercom, the thirteen of them had ended up somewhere in the woods outside the city. Stupidly, they had come to a consensus that with less visibility, the undead would be less likely to find them. What they hadn't realized was that it was even less likely that they would be able to spot any threats.

There had been a quarry half an hour down a different dirt road, inhabited by other survivors. Tyler had volunteered himself and Katty to go up and negotiate, see if they were interested in pooling resources and man power.

Initially, an older man and two blonde women had greeted them and been friendly. They had been excited about the prospect of other people, and the younger one of the blonde sisters had been especially excited that Katty had been around her age. It had gone well until a cop, thick and built like a fuckin' brick house, had promptly turned them away once he learned about their numbers.

"That's too many mouths to feed, sweetheart. I'm sure you can understand," he had explained to her like she was a child. Katty bristled at the memory of the officer's face, watching her under his blue hat that said 'POLICE' on it and puffing his chest at the same time.

A willowy brunette had stood off a distance from them, and watched with a concerned expression. She had called out to him softly with a name that Katty couldn't remember now, and he had paused briefly before readdressing Katty and Tyler.

The hat was pulled from his head and the man scratched at the back of his skull, his meaty forearm flexing.

"Look," he continued, his tone not as boisterous. Katty raised an eyebrow at the change. "If it was just you two, it might be different. We're stretched thin as it is; another thirteen people would be difficult to keep fed."

They had liked their height advantage, the clearing, and the fact that they had water available for bathing and washing clothes. Past that, Katty hadn't been interested in joining their group, and wasn't nearly as put-out as Tyler had been at their dismissal from the officer.

Still, she wondered how different things would have been if they had left their group and joined the quarry.

"We'll try again in a few weeks, yeah?" Tyler had asked her as they drove away. "We should have brought a welcoming gift or something." He continued, placing a hand on Katty's upper leg. She shrugged in response, unconcerned.

Life had been bleak to say the least. Looking back at it, Katty knew it had all been her negativity that made her so miserable and redundant. She helped out around their camp, did her part, but moped around at the same time. Everything about her life, and especially her relationship with Tyler, was forced.

It wasn't his fault. Tyler hadn't changed whatsoever. Katty, however, was angry with the world and it spilled over into their personal life as well.

They used to talk, they used to have fun, they used to have a connection and Katty used to think that they had a shot together. Now, it just felt like she was with Tyler because she didn't have a choice, rather than because she actually _wanted_ him. He was the last trace of her normal life from before, and she selfishly knew that if given the chance, she wouldn't let Tyler go. Simply because that would feel like the last shred of herself was ripped away. So they didn't talk like they would have before hand. They didn't laugh or smile together. They still had sex, but it was different. It felt like a yearning for normalcy and a shredded connection that had been lost, rather than a physical or emotional want.

Katty couldn't decide what was more fucking pathetic. The fact that she was using someone who genuinely liked her, or the fact that she was using him because she didn't have anything left of herself.

How could she even explain that to anyone? That _a boyfriend_ was the only thing she identified with who Katty was anymore? She hated herself.

And she definitely didn't appreciate him. Or anyone else in that group. And within a few, short, short weeks, Katty would come to regret how she treated or viewed anyone.

It had been the early evening. She had been out in the forest, collecting edibles and basically avoiding human contact, walking through the woods in a perimeter around their camp. Popping berries into her mouth and stalking around, Katty swung the bat in her hand lazily around.

Five of those dark berries hit the ground when she heard the screaming. Scrambling in the direction of camp, Katty tripped and fell over a log, swearing loudly. Ignoring the stinging sensation in her wrists and knees, Katty threw herself to her feet and started to run.

Katty had wandered farther than she normally did, and her lungs burned with exhaustion and panic when the small break in the treeline appeared. The screaming, snapping, growling, crying, all grew louder as she approached; the cacophony of noises made her want to vomit.

The soundtrack to a fucking massacre.

She hadn't been sprinting for more than a few minutes. It was impossible that the carnage that greeted her had transpired in that short amount of time.

There were dead ones _everywhere_ , all in varying degrees of decay, all in varying degrees of descending upon the living. An older husband and wife being torn into simultaneously was the first of many to make the bile rise in her throat. It made her stumble and fall to her knees, the bitter contents of her stomach rushing into her mouth and onto the ground.

A family was screaming collectively a few meters away. The mother had been holding her son in her arms protectively, with little effect as they were overrun. Five dead ones were lying motionlessly around them, and Katty felt frozen as she watched the father swing a crowbar carelessly and futilely at the remaining group that surrounded them.

"KATTY! KATTY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The masculine voice made her jump, and she cowardly tore herself away from the dying members of her group, her eyes refusing to make contact with any of the people being devoured. There was _so many_ of them, Katty didn't know what to do. Something grabbed her foot, and she fell for the third time today.

"Help," a dark haired man gurgled at her, thick blood bubbling out of his mouth. There were two dead ones attached and ripping into his legs as he uselessly tried to crawl away. The pleading look in his eyes made Katty hesitate from running away, and she stopped. Letting instinct take over, she clumsily swung her bat over his head and towards the creature biting him.

A sickening crack sounded as the bat made contact with its head, and the undead paused, momentarily stunned. Katty quickly got up and twisted her body as she hit it repeatedly with the bat, brain matter spraying her. Immediately, she turned to the other dead counterpart and resorted to scrunching her eyes closed as more pieces of skull and brain matter ornamented her face.

The man on the floor gurgled something at her, but her head and attention twisted away as another yell ripped through the air for her. She ran, looking around as Katty tried to zero in on where Tyler was. It was definitely him yelling for her. Who else would be concerned for her safety?

Katty ducked in between tents and jumped over bodies of fallen undead and people alike, her breath catching as Tyler appeared in her sights. He was dirty and covered in blood and guts, and still somehow retained his good looks. Tyler was wielding a hunting knife, and was in the middle of thrusting it into the head of a dead one. He winced as he drew it back.

Relief flooded his features as his gaze landed on Katty.

"Fuck, there you are, I thought –" a scream ripped from his mouth as another clamped down on his forearm. Katty's own scream mirrored his as she lunged forward to uselessly try to stop what had just happened. Tyler grunted and used his other hand to stab the offending creature through its forehead.

Katty felt tears and vomit welling up simultaneously as she stumbled towards Tyler and grabbed him. Together, they broke and fell to the ground, Katty sobbing and Tyler muttering something to her that she wasn't coherent enough to understand or appreciate.

Sitting on the ground covered in each other, the remaining chaos didn't register to Katty. The screams and growls were muted, and she couldn't hear anything over her gasping breaths. The sharp pain in her hip barely registered as teeth clamped down on her hip through her leggings, until the blooming pain captured her attention. Her head swiveled around to watch in horror as the undead latched onto her skin, and then paused before unclamping from her skin, seemingly confused.

She didn't have time to wonder why it didn't rip flesh from her and dive in for more, before a shot rang out and the dead slumped forward.

"Fuck!" Tyler swore angrily, and used his good arm to pull Katty to her feet. He shoved the Glock back into the front of his pants and grabbed her hand.

"We need to get out of here," he yelled in her ear, and pulled her roughly to follow him.

Katty's feet followed on their own accord, but she felt numb. She was going to die. She was dead. Tyler was dead. She was going to be _one of those things_. Where she had been sobbing before, Katty couldn't feel anything but shock now. It had happened so fast; one minute she had been eating and walking in the woods, and then everyone she knew post-apocalypse was fucking dead.

It barely registered to her as the trees cleared and Tyler pulled her to sit beside him on a rock. He hissed in pain as she bumped against his bitten arm, and Katty apologized dully. Tyler shook his head dismissively at the 'sorry'.

It was silent for a while as they both caught their breath, the shaky gasps the only thing that echoed between them.

It was odd, Katty thought forlornly. Sitting pressed against someone and somehow feeling so far away.

He shuffled beside her and pulled the gun out from the front of his jeans, placing it in his lap.

"Two left. What a coincidence." He drawled sarcastically, anger seeping into his tone. Katty didn't reply, just leaned her head on his shoulder. Tyler let out a puff of air and Katty felt him sag slightly beside her in defeat.

Her hip throbbed and she gingerly reached a hand down to trace a couple fingers over the bite. It stung, but she resisted moving away and laid her hand fully over the indent. Her leggings were ripped at her hip and blood flowed freely down her leg.

"I can't believe that happened," he muttered, and the cynical part of Katty wanted to laugh. They had been in the middle of the woods, with no defenses other than a person or two on watch. Their group was loud and boisterous, careless and childlike; it was a miracle that they had lasted this long.

But she didn't say any of that. What was the point?

"Yeah," Katty agreed instead, wondering why she decided to spend the last moments of her life lying. Was it for Tyler, or was it for her?

He started to babble, and Katty tuned out. Tyler was explaining what he had been doing before the herd descended on them, who he had seen die, and how many he had been able to take out before Katty came along. It was comforting, listening to his deep voice speak, even if she wasn't really hearing the content.

Staring at the sky, Katty watched the darkening hues of the sunset; blues, purples, deep oranges, all drifted away like an exhaled breath.

How fitting, she thought dully.

"I don't know if I'll be able to shoot you and then myself," Tyler commented bluntly, and Katty glanced sideways at him. He, too, was watching the sunset disinterestedly. She should have probably been offended with how nonchalantly he talked about killing her, but Katty understood. If you tried to distance yourself emotionally from the subject matter, it was easier to talk about.

And it needed to be talked about.

Katty thought over his words briefly, and what he might as well have come out and asked in that moment.

"I could do it," she said monotonously, and grabbed the Glock from his lap. "Maybe." She added uncertainly. It was heavy in her hands, and she passed the weight between her left and right. Katty could feel Tyler watching her out of the corner of her eye, and she put the gun back in her lap and glanced at the sky once more.

It reminded her of California, of home, of life before the world died. When she was a server and a college dropout and her biggest problem was her debt. Katty turned her head and traced her eyes over Tyler's face, pale with pain. The sky reminded her of when they would stay up all night, watching movies, fucking, and talking.

"Or," she swallowed a lump in her throat and continued. "We could pretend we aren't dying, pretend we're back in California and just talk all night." Katty looked over at Tyler and smiled lightly. "Watch the sun rise and lose our fuckin' minds together."

Tyler let out a loud laugh, one that didn't suit the gravity of their situation. "Fuck, you sure are romantic, huh Katty?" he ran a hand through his sweat slick mop of hair and pushed it back out of his eyes.

And they talked. It wasn't monumental and Katty didn't fall in love with him in the dark hours of the night when all that illuminated them was moonlight. Some conversations were new; some were repetitions of old stories that they had told each other before. They laughed and cried and Katty even slapped Tyler at one point for an argument that didn't mean anything and that she couldn't recall even now in the present moment.

That's the funny thing about words, they may fade from your memory but the feelings attached to them are burnt into your skin for _so_ much longer.

And in the early hours of the morning when the sun rose, Katty looked at Tyler in the new light and recognized that their story didn't have to be a Romeo and Juliet tragedy about love and death and poison and daggers. They were simply two people that tried to make it work and looked out for each other.

A cough interrupted her thoughts. Katty tugged her bottom lip into her mouth and watched him. Tyler had progressively gotten worse throughout the night, his complexion became sickly, almost grey, and his breaths became ragged. They were now sat on the floor, leaned against the rock instead of on top of it. Katty suggested they move when Tyler became weak, barely being able to hold himself up. She had watched him decompensate during the night, and tried to accept it as it came. A small voice in the back of her head wondered why she felt alright, other than tired, but brushed it off. Maybe it was because she was bitten lower down on the body than Tyler was, and it took longer to affect her.

"I think my time's up, Katty."

Her breath caught in her throat at his words. They had talked about _everything_ last night, even the prospect of ending it. It was almost comical to think that they could wander the world together as undead, but neither of them truly wanted that. And Tyler had made sure to echo that thought to her consistently throughout the night.

Katty supposed that this was it for them.

Her nose and eyes burnt as she picked up the gun that had been placed beside her. If she had thought it was heavy earlier, it felt like a fucking sack of bricks right now. Her vision blurred and she blinked rapidly to clear it. Shaking, she raised the gun halfway to the side of his head and stopped, unable to look at Tyler.

"Look at the sky, Tyler" she choked out, "We said we'd watch the sun rise together. Just look at the sky."

A clammy hand guided her face up a few degrees and her eyes snapped to his. Through the pain, the sickness, the infection, his face was warm and genuine and Tyler smiled at her.

"I'd rather look at you."

She refused to let the sob escape her, and mustered a small, watery smile at her companion as she raised the gun to rest on his temple.

"See ya later, Katty."

Katty didn't look away as she pulled the trigger. She had been enough of a coward, and she owed it to Tyler. The shot was deafening at the close contact, and Katty scrunched her eyes shut as soon as she heard his body slump to the ground. Katty didn't need to remember him like that. As a corpse.

Turning away and back towards the sky, Katty double checked that there was indeed, one bullet left.

Maybe it wouldn't be hard to pull it if she didn't think about it.

Her mind disagreed. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, in the damp grass with the gun pressed to the side of her head. All the instincts in her body told her not to. Katty was sweating and her chest was heaving, a mix of adrenaline, fear and anguish coating her. Her arm hurt from holding it up for so long, the limb shaking in protest.

"Quit bein' a fucking coward, I thought we were done with that," she muttered to herself angrily and refused to remove the object from her temple. Maybe she should try counting to three.

As fate would have it, Katty would never know if counting would have helped her pull the trigger.

The gun was roughly snatched from her hand, and her arm toppled uselessly down to her side.

"I'll say you're a fuckin' coward, tryin' to opt out," a masculine voice chided, and Katty jumped to attention.

Scrambling to her feet, she seethed up towards the lanky male that greeted her with raised, unimpressed brows.

" _I've been bitten_ , you useless fucking sack of shit," Katty spat at him and ripped the side of her torn leggings down by her hip to expose the mark.

The taller man took a step back and looked down at where she gestured.

"How long ago was that?" he asked evenly, his light eyes dancing between her hip and her face.

"It doesn't matter," Katty snapped irritably and made a move to grab the Glock from him again. The lanky young man easily took another step back and moved so she couldn't grab the weapon from him. "Yesterday evening. Now give it back!"

"Yesterday? You're sure?" he asked dubiously, and then raised both hands defensively at her murderous look. He tucked the gun into the back of his pants and then looked Katty over once more.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" she growled at him, and started to think of a plan of attack to get the gun back from him.

"Name's Calum," the lanky, annoying man answered with a flash of teeth. "And I think we have _a lot_ to talk about."

* * *

"How did it happen?" Katty parroted back at Noah, " _Fast_." She answered shortly. It would have been nice if she could have told him the entire story. Would have been nice if they had the time and would have been nice if either of them had had the energy to tell or listen to it.

But time was not on their side. So 'fast' seemed like a suiting answer. That was how the infection spreads. That was the frame in which you lose people. That was the pace of the world.

Fast.

"Calum found me and stopped me from – 'opting out' as he put it," she decided to elaborate. "He saw that the bite hadn't gotten infected, it had stopped bleeding for the most part – I wasn't _sick_." She summarized with three words. "We travelled together."

"Katty, you could be the answer to everything," Noah's eyes pleaded with her to confirm it. Confirm that she had some secret cure in the works and that she was going to end it all.

Her next words hurt to say. "There's no cure, Noah." She said quietly, regrettably. "The people at Woodbury tried. The CDC in Atlanta tried. The greatest minds in the word tried. I can't just – spit on people and then everyone can start swing dancing with Biters."

Through the pain, Noah laughed and reached out to grab her hand. "You're wrong. It's alright that you're wrong."

She frowned at him, and he released her hand to fumble beside him for something. Katty took this time to straighten her clothing and readjust herself. Noah grabbed the black, bound book that Reg had given him earlier that day. The one that she had seen him writing in.

Noah handed it to her with a smile, and she gingerly took it and opened the front cover.

" _This is the beginning._ " Was written in his tidy scrawl. Tears welled up in Katty's eyes and she handed the book back to him.

"Alexandria is the beginning of civilization, and you're the beginning of the end of the infection," Noah stated soundly. Katty was blubbering too hard, she couldn't disagree with him. "Even if they don't make a cure from you or because of you, maybe it's a sign that the human race is adapting to it. This is the beginning, Katty."

She was freely sobbing now, embarrassingly loud and ugly. "I'm supposed to be the one comforting _you_!" she cried at him.

Noah was laying in the bed, broken and dying, but still had more spirit than she did.

He took her hand in his again. "You are comforting me," he said quietly. "It's stupid, but I have more hope now than I did before."

Katty didn't know how to respond, so she just stood there dumbly.

"You have to promise me," Noah said suddenly, his face serious and his dark, tired eyes locked on hers.

"Anything." Katty replied without thought or consideration. She owed him a promise.

"Promise me that you'll tell them someday."

Noah saw the hesitation in her eyes and interrupted whatever negative thoughts Katty was about to have. "I get it, something happened before to you. But they're different," he affirmed. "Please."

"Yeah," Katty confirmed, her voice shaking and her heart pounding. Still a fucking coward, lying to a dying man. "I promise."

She took her free hand and ran it over Noah's face, committing his features to memory. "I'm going to miss you, Noah." She muttered.

He weakly squeezed her hand and smiled with the same resolve. "See ya later, Katty."

Her heart broke again in that moment, the parallel's between Tyler and Noah's last moments shredding her resolve. Once out of the room and in the hallway, Katty remembered to readjust the bandage on her arm before rejoining the group in the main living area.

She looked a wreck, but no one said anything to her. The majority of them looked as upset as she felt, just in different ways. Glenn and Rick were back inside from their talk, and Glenn immediately addressed her.

"He's alright if I go in?" he asked wearily. Glenn looked as emotionally drained as she felt. He already had to recount the day's events to two different people, and now he had to go console a dying friend; Katty wished she could reach out to him and say anything comforting.

Instead, Katty just nodded. "I'm sure he'd love it, Glenn."

She stepped out of his way so that Glenn could continue down the hallway, but he stopped her. Her eyes widened when Glenn wrapped his arms around her securely, crushing her into his chest.

"Thank you, Katty," he mumbled against her hair. She didn't ask why, just hugged him back before he released her and continued down the hallway to see Noah.

She just stood there for a while, still unsure where she fit in the group dynamic. Everyone was there, and a couple faces that she didn't entirely know. They all fit together, and Katty suddenly felt out of place in the family. She couldn't save Noah. She was the reason that one of their family didn't come home – didn't come home safe. Should she apologize to everyone? Make a speech?

Katty considered the option that she should leave still. That had been the original plan before they left for the warehouse. Get everyone home safe and then leave. Look for Calum and be on her own again. Looking around the room, she knew she couldn't leave. Katty owed it to them. She also would have to find a way to either fulfill her promise to Noah or make up for lying to him – she wasn't sure what yet. Her business was anything but finished in Alexandria.

"Katty," Rick's voice broke through her somber thoughts. He cleared his throat and she looked up at him. He looked drained as well, she noted. "Let's talk outside."

She followed him out, and sighed when the cool night air brushed across her hot face.

"Glenn's already filled me in about what happened," Rick started, getting straight to the point. "And everythin' about your involvement as well."

Katty looked off into the distance and chewed her lip, unsure how to respond. She wasn't sure what that meant, so Katty decided to remain silent and wait for Rick to continue.

"I just wanted to be transparent with you," he continued once he realized Katty had chosen to remain mute. "I had some doubts about you in the beginning. You've caused some – _stirs_ since you've been here and we don't know everything about you, so it was hard not to see you as a threat at times."

Rick chose his words carefully, but Katty understood. After everything that the group had been through, it would be stupid for Rick to trust her so inherently. Even if she had spent the majority of the night before crying on his shoulder. It was difficult in this day and age.

He reached a hand to clasp on Katty's shoulder. "Glenn said you saved his life, and you brought Noah back," Rick summarized in one sentence. Katty fidgeted beside him. "We are _all_ grateful."

"I couldn't save him," Katty responded, still looking into the darkness of Alexandria. "I tried, but I couldn't."

" _You tried_. People die, but at least you tried." Was Rick's simple declaration. His hand slipped off of Katty's shoulder as he retreated inside.

Her head hurt from the crying, the thinking, and the guilt. She knew that nothing she said or did was going to make anything better. Katty wished she could just go to sleep and forget that this day happened. But sleep would assuredly not come easy to her tonight, not after today, not after Noah and not after recounting her past.

So she just slid down the siding of the house and sat on the cold material of the porch and stared out at Alexandria with blank eyes. Her back screamed in protest at the sudden pressure, but Katty just ignored it, along with the rest of her surroundings.

If she had the energy, she would have wondered what Noah would choose in the end. Either way, she prayed it would be fast.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Thanks for finishing through another chapter. I don't update in so long and then I end with two deaths in one go, I'm sorry. :( I know I promised Daryl in this chapter, and I intended to, but I couldn't fit him in to where it didn't seem disjointed.

The next chapter I plan on catching up to the Season 5 finale, though, so I swear he will be in the next one! And their relationship will progress soon. I can't wait just as much as you guys!

Feed an author and leave a review?

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: "Pete? What are you doing?"_


	15. Trapped

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Surprise! Here's another one! This was a surprise even to me, haha. I didn't think I'd get this chapter out this quickly. I'm excited for the next one.**

 **Thank you to everyone that reviewed! I know when I put this up reviews weren't working but people still tried to leave me some which is so nice! Thanks to** **Jean** **,** **Anon** **,** **Faelyght** **,** **JenTen** **,** **I'm a Nerd and Proud** **,** **HPGunshot** **,** **LeAnn388** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **SeverusSnape'sLove** **,** **FluentInBullshit** **,** **Random** ** & ****Bactrian Camel** **for reviewing. Thanks for the encouraging words and thanks to everyone that's added HI to their alerts and favourites.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Trapped

Even post-apocalyptic, hospital chairs were uncomfortable. Her numb ass told her that. She had been watching Tara breathe for the past hour, her respirations easy and regular. It was somehow comforting and unnerving at the same time. Katty half expected Tara to sit up in bed and crack a joke, and every minute that she didn't, made Katty's brow crease further.

"No wonder she's still out. I wouldn't want to wake up to that cheery face either," Rosita drawled from her position beside the shelf.

Any other day, Katty would have snarked something back at Rosita, laughed, or made a joke out of it. Not today, though.

Pete had more or less medically cleared Tara, and it was now just a waiting game for when she would wake up. It wasn't like they had any equipment or machinery that would help her past the initial stages of recovery. They truly wouldn't know if there was any lasting damage until she woke up.

It was the morning after the warehouse run, and Alexandria seemed dreary and less full of life without her and Noah.

She had sat on the porch for a while last night, and people rotated in and out of the house, keeping her company or just getting a breather themselves. Though the day had dragged on endlessly, it also felt like a blur; a rush; she wasn't sure how it concluded or how she ended up in her own bed, but Katty woke up the next morning in the familiar house.

She also hadn't asked specifics. Katty didn't know how it ended, who did it, or at what hour it occurred during the night. But waking up to Glenn and Abraham digging graves, cemented the fact for her without words.

"Katty," Rosita's voice had changed from a sarcastic drawl to take on a soft, concerned note. "She's going to be alright. Tara's not going to disappear on us." Her friend placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, which Katty covered with her own.

"How do we tell her?" Katty asked instead. She could easily recall countless times that she had seen Noah and Tara together, laughing, talking, being friendly. They were obviously close.

Rosita sighed. "There's no right way. We just do," she removed her hand from Katty's shoulder to straighten her ponytail. "Do you mind sitting here for a few? I'm going to try to get Abraham and Eugene in the same room; try to get them to kiss and make up."

Katty glanced over at her, curious. "What happened that they're fighting?" She had wondered about Eugene; how he fit into their family and why there seemed to be tension between him and a couple other people, namely Abraham. Katty had seen them avoid each other, look the other way when the other was talking, leave the room or create a physical distance between them.

Rosita sighed again, "It's a long story. Eugene fucked up and now he and Abraham don't talk. Everyone is over it but him, really. It hit Abe a lot harder than anyone else." That didn't really answer Katty's question, just created new ones, but she nodded all the same.

Everyone had secrets, after all.

The scratch on her arm throbbed dully and her hand twitched, wanting to pick at the bandage covering it. That was another reason why she had come down to the infirmary. She didn't end up cleaning the scratch or changing the bandage like Katty had promised Carol she would, and it needed to be dealt with.

"Yeah, I don't mind sticking around for a few more minutes. Take your time," Katty confirmed easily, waving her hand at Rosita to usher her away.

Rosita thanked her and then left. When the door shut behind her, Katty waited a minute to make sure she wasn't going to spontaneously appear again, and then went to work to cleaning her arm. Even though the virus wasn't going to kill her, she still had to worry about a normal infection. Peeling the gauze off of her arm, Katty winced as the dressing stuck to the plasma around the wound.

She glanced down at it and wrinkled her face. Considering a dead person had gouged her, it didn't look terrible. Not deep enough to justify stitches, but would definitely be another unattractive scar. She grabbed a container of sterile saline, as sterile as it can be in the apocalypse, and worked at irrigating the tissue to clean it. The majority of dirt, blood and grime washed away and down her arm, but she still took a few cotton pads and saturated them in saline to use as well, just to make sure. Katty grabbed a couple butterfly closures and applied them before she covered it with another dressing. Not perfect, she mused. It definitely looked like someone had tried to bandage themselves with one arm, but it was good enough.

Rosita and Eugene walked in as she was cleaning up the garbage.

"I would have done it for you if you had waited," Rosita chided her and straightened the dressing on her arm. Katty resisted flinching as she did so and tried to execute a noncommittal shrug.

"It's alright. I didn't remember I needed to clean it until after you left. It kills the time," Katty explained nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.

"How's your back? Looked pretty rough last night," Katty smiled at Rosita's concern, appreciative that the other woman thought of her.

She shrugged, and winced slightly. "Still hurts, I won't be sleeping on my back for a while, I suppose. I'll live, though." Katty had elected to wear a loose tank top as well as neglecting a bra, which definitely helped.

"Alright, well I can always give you something to help with pain. And I don't mind changing the bandages when you think you need it, either," Rosita offered with a stern look on her face. Katty again smiled, and nodded.

"Thanks, I'll come find you either tomorrow or the day after for it."

Katty glanced over at Eugene, who had been entirely silent during their interaction. He had situated himself in the chair that Katty had vacated, and was watching Tara intensely, much like Katty had done previously. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept much last night. Dark circles under his eyes accentuated that fact.

He jumped when Katty placed her hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy, Eugene. Join Tara and have a kip," she instructed, and the man promptly shook his head.

"That would be a negatory on the nap prospect, Katty," Eugene replied, and Katty mustered a smile at his odd colloquialism.

She grabbed the end of his hair briefly and twirled it, which made him bat her hand away. Katty let out a puff of air that resembled a laugh. "Chair's shit anyways. Cheers, guys," she saluted Rosita and turned to leave.

Someone had moved the van from it's position beside the infirmary and it was now off to the side. Nicholas was in the back, scrubbing the dried blood out of it with a frown on his face. Tara's blood, Katty realized with a twist of her stomach.

Thinking of the CD that was probably still in the console, Katty turned her trajectory towards the van. The Monroe family would probably want that back.

Katty avoided Nicholas, didn't make eye contact or even incline her head towards him as she passed. It wasn't out of fear or anger, Katty just was exhausted from feeling guilt and regret. She should have shot Nicholas when she had the inclination too; Noah would still be alive and that was reason enough for her. But stewing over the fact and being angry about it was too much for her at this time, so she just avoided him.

He seemed content in ignoring her as well, for when she pulled open the passenger door and started rummaging around, he didn't so much as look up to acknowledge her.

"Nicholas, don't talk, just listen," a voice carried through the van and Katty froze, recognizing it immediately. Glenn.

After a moments hesitation, she decided to stick around in case the confrontation got out of hand. Admittedly, Katty was being rude and probably wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping, but _fuck it_. Did curiosity ever _really_ kill the cat?

Nicholas didn't interrupt right away, so Glenn continued. "Those four people you lost on that run, that's on you." Glenn stressed the last word in the sentence. "And Noah, that's on you, too. You have to carry those five lives. People like you are supposed to be dead, but these walls went up _just in time_ , so you're not. You don't go outside those walls anymore. Not by yourself, not with anyone else. And that's how you're gonna survive."

Kat's eyebrows raised, impressed. She didn't understand how Glenn kept his composure and his tone even, authoritarian. It if were her, she'd probably be throwing fists already.

Nicholas scoffed. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Without missing a beat, Glenn replied, "I'm someone who knows who you are. I know what you did. And it's not gonna happen again."

"I've been protecting this place, helping provide for it," Nicholas snapped. "You just got here."

Glenn ignored his words, and continued. "Don't forget what I said."

"You threatenin' me?" Nicholas asked, anger rising in his voice.

Glenn chuckled, and Katty furrowed her brow as she tried to read the noise from voice alone, no facial cues. It didn't sound dark or threatening, it sounded borderline amused, like he was either amused at a child or shocked that he was even having this conversation.

"No. I'm saving you."

Glenn's retreating footsteps ended the conversation, and Nicholas let out an angry, exasperated sigh. Katty had no doubts in her mind that Nicholas was going to ignore Glenn's order to stay inside the walls, and was definitely going to do something daft.

She reached over and pressed the eject button. Aiden's CD popped out, and Katty quickly grabbed it before leaving the van. She didn't bother shutting the door, didn't want to risk Nicholas talking to her, so she just left.

Katty's stomach twisted and turned as she approached the Monroe household. She _really_ didn't want to face Deanna, deal with her accusatory stare or any questions about her involvement in the warehouse run. Why she hadn't saved Aiden.

Glenn had informed her last night that he had, indeed, been interviewed by Deanna and it had been filmed. Deanna had noted the drastic differences in the retelling of Glenn and Nicholas' stories, and told them that neither of them would be permitted to leave Alexandria until it got sorted out. He had explained that Deanna had asked about Katty, but didn't seem too interested in her overall once Glenn had explained what had happened.

She reached a hand up to the back of her head again and felt the new scab where her head hit against a metal shelf. Carol didn't think that Katty was concussed. Other than some dizziness and an obvious headache, Katty wasn't displaying any drastic, worrying symptoms. She was just grateful that Deanna hadn't asked to speak to her so far.

Katty didn't realize that she had been standing in front of the Monroe door until she looked up to see Spencer's face watching her. She jumped and refocussed her attention on the slightly older man, embarrassed. He looked rough, to say the least. Overnight, he had seemingly gotten scruffier and disheveled. Spencer had never been clean shaven, but it was accentuated more now. His eyes were slightly red and on the swollen side, which contrasted greatly with the dark bags under each of them. She supposed that she didn't look much better, though.

"You alright, Katty?" Spencer asked kindly. Even his voice was scratchy and rough, like he had been crying all night.

She scolded herself for not paying attention and not saying something first.

"Sorry," she muttered, "Spaced out. I'm fine, how are you holding up?" Katty asked, and then regretted her words. What a stupid fucking question.

Spencer roughly pushed a hand through his hair and less out a humourless laugh. "Been better," he said shortly, but not unkindly.

Katty frowned and tried to keep the look of pity off her face. She didn't like or miss Aiden, but Katty could recognize that at least three other people did. It wasn't hard to empathize with the Monroe family. She was missing a few people right now as well.

The circular object in her hand caught her attention, and Katty held it out to Spencer. "Here, reckon you'd want this."

He blinked in surprise and reached a hand out to slowly take it from her. His brown eyes locked on the CD and his forehead creased as he looked at it. Katty wondered what he was remembering.

"Thank you, Katty."

His words were so quiet that she almost missed it. But the pain in Spencer's voice rang clear to Katty, and her stomach churned uncomfortably. She wished she was better at comforting people, but it had never been her forte.

Gingerly, she reached a hand out to touch his arm. She was almost awkwardly far away from Spencer, so she had to take a step forward to be able to do so. His face turned up briefly and he looked confused at the gesture.

"I know we're not friends," Katty started, and winced. Good job, Katty. You're great at comforting people. "But if you ever need anything, or just want to talk and distract yourself, feel free to come find me."

Spencer's lips turned into a thin line, and he nodded jerkily. He didn't thank her again or verbally agree, but Katty took that as him having enough of their conversation and stepped away from him. He nodded at her again when she awkwardly looked back, and Katty took another step away before she paused, another noise catching her attention.

Yelling, multiple voices, both male and female. Someone sounded like they were getting thrown around.

"Pete, stop it!"

Her wide, different coloured eyes snapped back to Spencer's and neither of them moved for a moment.

"What is that?" Reg appeared in the doorway, and a short, uncomfortable silence ensued as Katty contemplated what to do. The two Monroe's just stared at her, the elder of the two looked puzzled as to why Katty was there, talking to Spencer.

"Stop it!" it sounded muffled, but distinctly Jessie.

The loud, sharp noise of glass shattering filled their ears, and herself and Spencer took off in the direction of the commotion. They didn't have to run very far, before they arrived at the Anderson household.

"Deanna!" she heard Reg yell as her and Spencer left.

By the time they got there, a crowd had already formed. A man named Tobin, Jessie, Rosita, and Carol with a cowering Sam clung to her. Carl and Enid looked winded, like they had been running for a while and Katty briefly wondered where they had been. There were other faces of Alexandrians, but Katty skipped over them to focus on others. Jessie was openly sobbing, and Katty quickly glanced around at the rest of the group. They looked shocked and unsure of what to do.

Everyone was shocked, focussed on the spectacle in the middle; Rick and Pete, rolling on the ground, grabbing and punching at each other. They had fallen through the window together, and Rick was currently on top of Pete, his face covered in blood. Pete wasn't much better, cuts and streams of blood travelling down his face as well. Their hands were clasped around each others throats as they simultaneously tried to choke each other out.

Pete's meaty hand swung and clipped Rick in the jaw, who returned the blow with the same amount of vigor. Somehow, in the middle of gouging eyes and chokeholds, Pete flipped over so he was above Rick, and gripped his throat once more. At this, Jessie ran forward and tried to intervene. Pete didn't even look as he took his fist from Rick and swung it at Jessie, connecting with her face and sending her sprawling to the ground.

Katty immediately stepped forward and helped the sobbing blonde woman off of the ground. Jessie clung to her, visibly terrified and shaking.

Katty could barely keep up with the fight, it happened so fast and who had the upper hand changed so often. At one point, Carl tried to intervene as well.

"Dad! Get off!" he had grunted at Rick before he was roughly pushed away by his father. It was truly animalistic, like two males fighting for territory, Katty thought.

The look in Rick's eyes almost frightened her, the intensity as the two men wrestled on the ground, Pete trapped in a chokehold. Katty contemplated with a panicked mind if she should try to stop him. Surely if Rick killed the only doctor Alexandria had, they'd be kicked out for sure?

"Stop – stop it right now," Deanna's stern voice cut through the commotion, and Rick's head jerked up to look at her. He didn't release Pete from the chokehold, but he at least acknowledged that Deanna was there.

Glenn appeared at a sprint, with Nicholas following closely behind. Katty eyed Nicholas distastefully. Had he had more words with Glenn, she wondered?

"You touch 'em again, and I will kill you," Rick hissed into Pete's bloodied face, as Pete struggled around Rick's grip on him. Pete was gasping for breath and Katty became antsy. It wasn't clear if Rick had any intention of letting Pete go.

A large part of her didn't want Rick to let Pete go. Judging by Rick's words, he knew about Pete beating Jessie and possibly the two boys as well. He deserved it, the large part of her declared.

"Damn it, Rick!" Deanna's voice got angrier and louder. "I said stop!"

Tobin, Nicholas, and Glenn stepped forward to intervene, and Rick immediately dropped his hold on Pete to pull a gun and direct it towards the former two. Glenn turned to Tobin and Nicholas, his arms raised to tell them to back down.

"Or what?" he challenged. "You gonna kick me out?" Rick mocked at Deanna, waving the gun around at the Alexandrians.

Apparently even Rick, as constable, wasn't supposed to have a firearm on him, for the tone of the argument changed instantly. Hands went up in a calming motion, and Deanna's voice lost its angry edge.

"Put that gun down, Rick." She instructed calmly.

Rick looked incredulous at Deanna, like she was the one that was hysteric, covered in blood and screaming, and not him. He shook his head and looked around at the Alexandrians.

"You still don't get it," he panted, disbelief lacing his words. "None of you do!" Rick snarled, suddenly angry. "We know what needs to be done and we do it. We're the ones who live." He gestured with his open hand at Glenn and the few other members of his group in his line of vision.

He then addressed Deanna again and waved the gun towards her. The crowd visibly flinched. "You, you just sit and plan and hesitate. You pretend like you know when you don't!"

Katty tightened her grip around Jessie, who was still shaking. She looked around at the faces of the crowd as Rick spoke. Someone has to stop him, Katty's frantic brain screamed at her. Deanna's going to kick him out. The crowd of Alexandrians were changing from frightened to angry, Deanna's face betraying no other emotion than just that.

"You wish things weren't what they are. Well, you want to live? You want this place to stay standin'? Your way of doin' things is done. Things don't get better because you – you want them to. Startin' right now, we have to live in the _real_ world. We have to control who lives here."

"That's never been more clear to me than it is right now," Deanna agreed, and Katty's stomach leaped into her throat. It was obvious that she wasn't referring to Pete or Nicholas.

"Me?" Rick gestured to himself with his open hand, a short laugh escaping his mouth. "Me? You – " he cut himself off again with another laugh. "You mean – you mean me?" the hysterical smile dropped from his face and Rick sobered up some. "Your way is gonna destroy this place, it's gonna get people killed – it's already _gotten people killed_ ," Katty flinched at the reference. She assumed that the Monroe family didn't appreciate their son's death being thrown into their faces, either.

"And I'm not gonna stand by and just let it happen," Rick continued, and Katty was reminded of all those night ago, when she had approached Rick to apologize for her behavior after her physical altercation with Aiden and Nicholas and he had encouraged her to play by Deanna's rules for the time being.

" _What happens when Deanna can't keep us safe?"_

" _She won't make the rules anymore."_

"If you don't fight, you die," Rick declared, his voice along with his anger rose some more. How close was he to just shooting Deanna? "I'm not gonna stand by – "

Michonne jumped in and knocked Rick out with a well aimed punch to the back of his head. Rick slumped forward and hit the ground, and Katty released a shaky breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Michonne quickly reached down and grabbed the gun off the concrete, and she looked entirely exasperated and overwhelmed with what had just transpired as well.

Michonne looked up and towards Deanna. "Thank you, Michonne," Deanna acknowledged when the woman handed the gun to her. She ran a shaky hand through her hair. "It's over, everyone. Go back to your days. We'll discuss what will be done to rectify this situation later." Her tone was no-nonsense, and there were mutterings in the crowd before it started to thin.

Deanna looked towards a few of the remaining men. "I want him in a separate house and room with someone watching him at all times until he wakes up. No one is to have guns, turn all your weapons in except for knives," she addressed the remaining crowd. "I will assign people for rotations to guard the armory. Rosita," she addressed the woman, "You can bandage up Rick's face if you want."

Katty tuned Deanna out as she rambled off directions and orders to different people. She vaguely heard her tell Michonne to come with her to discuss something before Katty focussed her attention on Jessie, who was still glued to Katty's hip.

Jessie had stopped crying, but appeared frozen to the spot, watching where Pete lay on the ground. Katty looked over her face. Aside from looking miserable and being tear streaked, Pete hadn't broken the skin. Her face was swollen on the side that Pete struck her, but Katty realized with a lurch that it probably wasn't anything new to her.

"C'mon," she mumbled at her. "Let's get you ice." Katty also thought about the mess that the two had undoubtedly created inside Jessie's house, and the fact that now there was a broken window to repair.

Rick, you better have a fucking plan, she scowled to herself as she led Jessie away from her husband, who was still winded and lying on the ground.

* * *

"Fuckin' poncho guy," Daryl grumbled to himself as he tried to ignore the limbs and bodies banging into the windows of the car Aaron and himself were currently trapped in.

They had been outside for a few days now, this was either the third or fourth – it didn't really matter, did it? The recruiting expedition had taken a sour turn, and while tracking some idiot in a red poncho, they lost sight of him and ended up at a warehouse. He had been easy to spot to begin with, what with the bright red poncho and everything.

After coming across the first campsite, Aaron and Daryl had become worried that they weren't the only one's tracking this man. Another body, strung crudely to a tree and carved like a fuckin' Jack-O-Lantern. The woman had been decorated and finished with a 'W' engraved into her forehead, left to turn into a Walker.

They had just hoped that they would find the poor sonofabitch with the stupid poncho before whatever was doing that found him.

Which is what brought them to and what made them end up trapped in a car, surrounded by Walkers, with a slim chance of getting out safely or even in one piece.

Del Arno Foods. It had looked like a viable option when they couldn't find the man and they were spread thin, over 50 miles from Alexandria. A seemingly untouched warehouse, with the possibility of being stocked full of non-perishable food.

What had Aaron said? "You don't come across something like this every day." That had been for fucking sure.

Daryl probably should have clued in that something was off when he noticed the random cans strung up in odd places near the food trucks. He had brushed it off as the previous owner's lame defense against wildlife that would try to get into the trucks.

Neither of them looked around much before they pulled open one of the food trucks, and then chaos ensued.

Daryl barely caught a glimpse of torsos of Walkers, hanging strung up from the ceiling amongst the other undead, all with the same 'W' carved into their forehead before he and Aaron were running. Ducking in between trucks, climbing under, it was a miracle that they even made it to the dark, dusty vehicle without getting bit with how many Walkers had suddenly appeared.

After slamming the head of a particularly decrepit woman Walker with stringy, dirty, blonde hair in the door of the car, they both sat there panting for a minute, shocked at what had just happened.

Which is where Daryl had decided to curse the poor guy that they had been following.

"The glass will hold for a while, right?" Aaron asked Daryl, his panicked eyes betrayed his calm voice as he looked for validation and reassurance.

"Maybe," Daryl grunted in return, not one for sugar coating anything.

They mused aloud to each other about possible ways to decrease visibility, until the Walker's lost interest and wandered off. Aaron ran his hands down the side of the seats, looking for anything that would help them. When he pulled a crumpled note out from between the console and the seat, Daryl felt his gut sink to his ass when they read it. 'TRAP. Bad people coming. Don't Stay,' was scratched into it crudely in what looked like blood.

He swore quietly and stabbed his hunting knife into the dash. How had shit gone wrong so fast?

They sat there like that for a few more minutes in silence, the hope quickly draining from the car. Daryl caught the unseeing eyes of one of the Walkers pressed against the window and couldn't help but snort at the irony of his situation.

"What?" And now Aaron was looking at him, concerned as always. Daryl considered ignoring him, but seeing as how dire their current circumstance was, what did he have to lose? He hadn't exactly minded Aaron's company these past few days. Even trapped in a car, where the only two options for death were either to be eaten alive by Walkers or dismembered and strung up by crazies, Aaron was far from whiney or insufferable.

He thought his words over a few times before he said anything. "I came out here ta not feel all closed up back there," Daryl admitted gruffly. "Even now, this still feels more like me than back in them houses. Pretty fucked up, huh?" he finished dully, feeling pathetic, and went back to staring out the windshield.

Out of his peripheral, he saw Aaron shake his head lightly. "You were trying," the other man countered.

"I had ta," Daryl shrugged like it was the most obvious conclusion.

"No, you didn't." Aaron disagreed, and Daryl fidgeted under his stare, and shoved his hands back in his vest pockets.

"Listen," Aaron cleared his throat quietly, "I saw you with your group out there on the road. Then you went off on your own by the barn. The storm hit and you led your people to safety. That was it. I knew I had to bring you people back." Aaron explained, and Daryl's mind became cluttered.

He couldn't believe that the reason that Aaron had chosen to bring them back was because of him. That couldn't have been the truth, Daryl's subconscious contradicted. The idea of Aaron following their group had been a sore subject with Daryl, one that Aaron didn't bring up lightly or often. The added fact that Aaron had specifically followed Daryl and seen him at his most vulnerable unsettled him even further, and he felt the back of his neck heat up in embarrassment.

Daryl thought back to that moment, and what had been going through his head at the time. Blonde hair and a sweet singing voice entered his mind, and he frowned to himself briefly. He hadn't thought of her in a while, Daryl realized with a guilty twist of his stomach.

Daryl stuffed his hands into his pocket, and his right hand caught the edge of the folded up photo in his pocket. He hesitated. Daryl wanted to look at it again, but weighed the possibility of Aaron making a comment.

He rolled his eyes to himself. You're probably about to die, stupid, he scolded himself. Who care if Aaron knows you're a pussy?

Daryl pulled out the photo and unfolded it, smoothing out the creases. It had become somewhat worn from being in his pocket, and from him folding and bring rough with it in general. Kat, with messy hair, disproportionately full lips and one blue eye, stared back at him in that damn black bikini.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aaron raise his eyebrows, surprised.

"Should I even ask where you found that?" Daryl scowled at the teasing tone of voice and didn't reply. Trust Aaron to put aside time to tease him, even when they were probably about to die.

Aaron laughed quietly at the disgruntled look on Daryl's face. "And I bet you don't even know she likes you, too," his eyebrow arched at Daryl, who just deepened his own scowl in response. He didn't need Aaron lying to make him feel better about his pathetic borderline obsession with the girl.

"Daryl," he could see Aaron fighting to keep the smile off his face, "Her first words to you were calling you attractive."

Daryl scoffed in response, "She told Rick it was a joke," he countered before he could stop himself.

"Yeah, but not –" Aaron blinked a few times and decided not to finish his sentence. "You two are unbelievable." He finished incredulously.

Daryl felt his face heat up and he refused to respond, utterly fed up with the pep talk from Aaron. It felt like a fuckin' stupid place to have this conversation, trapped in a car surrounded by Walkers, being stalked by crazy murderers.

He put the photo on the dashboard in front of him and then reached in his pocket for a cigarette and his lighter. Staring at the photo of Kat, Daryl wondered if this would be the last time he shared a smoke with her.

"I'll go," Daryl said, already committed to his plan. "I'll lead 'em out. You make a break for the fence," he instructed, pointing in the direction he knew the fence to be in.

As he expected, Aaron immediately protested. "No, no, no. This was my fault – "

Daryl cut off what he was sure would be a very pointless speech which ended in Aaron offering to lead them away instead. "It wasn't a question, and this ain't your decision. Ain't no one's fault." Daryl stated firmly. "Just let me finish my smoke first," he mumbled and glanced back towards the photo.

He could feel Aaron staring at him again, and looking back towards his friend, it was an intense and emotional one.

"No," Aaron said again, "You don't draw them away. We _fight_. We go for the fence, together, alright? Whether we make it or not, _we do it together_. We have to."

Daryl wanted to argue, wanted to point out that Aaron had more to lose than he did. More people would miss Aaron and Alexandria would definitely be affected greater if they lost him. All fingers pointed to Daryl being the one to lead them off and sacrifice himself. But he also didn't want to take away from what Aaron was offering him. He heard and understood what Aaron had said to him, and was touched deeply that his friend wanted to risk his life to fight with him.

Daryl snatched the stupid photo off the dashboard and folded it up, more carefully than he had previously, tucking it into his pocket. "Alright," he replied simply. "You ready?"

Aaron's reply was instantaneous. "Yeah."

"We'll go on three," Daryl explained and switched his grip on his hunting knife. "One, two – "

His hand had been on the door handle when a Walker was stabbed through the brain and splattered against Aaron's passenger side window. The door was pulled open from the other side and that's when the chaos started up again.

* * *

It was the next night, and Katty had never felt more anxious as she got ready to make her way towards the meeting.

There was going to be a meeting, held and officiated by Deanna, about whether or not to exile Rick. Deanna had approached her personally yesterday after the incident with Rick and Pete, and requested that she speak at the meeting and share her thoughts.

"You've come in recently, around the same time as Rick's group, but you may be one of the few people here that aren't shrouded with bias," Deanna had explained to her. "You came into Alexandria as an outsider, and you've made bonds with both Rick's group and the other people here. I trust that you have some valuable thoughts and opinions to share that may help us in coming to a decision."

Deanna hadn't tried to sway her in either direction, bride or threaten her into saying that Rick was a menace or a danger to Alexandria. She had just politely requested that she speak tonight, and then left her alone.

Katty had stayed up the majority of the night and kept to herself the next day, fretting and worrying over what she would say. She was sure of that fact that she wanted Rick to stay in Alexandria, she just wasn't entirely sure how she would reorganize and iterate her thoughts in a way that swayed the negative opinions of the majority of Alexandrians.

She wasn't the best public speaker, not during highschool, not after highschool. In actuality, Katty wasn't a huge fan of having the attention focussed on her. She had only agreed to the modelling contract because she was in debt and desperate, really. Not for any of the right reasons.

So in preparation, Katty had written some sort of a speech in her mind. Bullet points that she wanted to touch on and phrases that she thought were eloquent enough to repeat for the crowd. If anything she could say would make Deanna allow Rick to stay, she would say it.

Katty could, admittedly, see both perspectives. That didn't mean she agreed with the notion to exile Rick, but she understood that he had frightened people the other day when he put Pete in a chokehold and then waved a gun around, screaming at everyone. She just hoped that she could make people focus on his intent and the message, rather than the content of his words.

In order to stall, Katty had decided to return some washed pans and dishes that Carol had brought over throughout the last few days. The woman had apparently taken a liking to Katty, and would periodically either bring leftovers or cook extra of whatever she made to bring by for her. A small part of Katty wondered if there was an ulterior motive, considering that she wasn't completely sure about Carol's character, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

When she went by Rick's house to drop off the dishes, Katty arched an eyebrow at the sight of the door left ajar. Everyone was out; either already at the meeting or busy elsewhere in Alexandria. There wasn't a reason to leave the door open. She shrugged and continued in. Maybe someone had just run in quickly to grab something and left the door open, Katty mused. There was a light on in the house, after all.

She nudged the door open with her foot and walked in.

"Hey, whoever's here, just dropping off – "

Katty cut herself off at the appearance of a large, blonde man, with his back facing her, in the living room. That definitely wasn't anyone in Rick's group.

"Pete? What are you doing?" she asked hesitantly. The man stiffened and turned around. His face was pinched and angry, and he was slinging around a six pack of beer in one hand. Katty could smell the alcohol on his breath, even from across the room.

"Get out," he snapped irritably, advancing towards her.

Katty quickly put the dishes down, making sure not to turn her back on the lumbering man. "This isn't your house, Pete. You're the one that needs to leave," she spoke calmly and was impressed when her voice didn't shake.

"Fuckin' bitch," he spat at her, waving the six pack in her direction. Katty eyed it; in Pete's hand, the beer practically turned into a club, and would probably do some damage to her. "Could never mind your own business, could you?"

Katty's heart leapt in her chest when she realized what Pete had been standing in front of when she walked in and what he had been staring at.

Michonne's sword. On the mantle and mainly a decoration at this point, it was still impossibly sharp and deadly.

"I think you should leave, Pete." Katty repeated again, hoping to distract him from the sword. "Deanna's on her way over to collect me for the meeting." Maybe she could scare him off.

Pete laughed loudly, a booming sound that made Katty jump. "Nice try, cunt. Already saw her down there before I came over here."

"What do you want, Pete?" Katty asked bluntly, fed up with dancing around the subject. Her skin crawled at the smile that slid onto Pete's foul face and the glint that appeared in his eyes.

"He thinks he can come in here, threaten ME, take MY WIFE, and get away with it?" he swung the cans around again angrily, his words slurring and steps stumbling. Katty side stepped his massive body and tried to make her way closer to the sword. Maybe if she could get it before he did, she could stop something terrible from happening.

"I'll show them all, we're the ones that need protecting from HIM. I'll prove – HEY! The fuck do you think you're doing?" Pete's drunken ramblings were interrupted when he noticed Katty's position in the room had sufficiently changed.

Quickly, she turned and threw her entire body weight into Pete and shoved him as hard as she could. It may not have been much, but for an intoxicated male, with a shit centre of gravity, it made Pete stumble backwards.

Katty ran and dived for the mantle. Her fingers scraped along the handle of the sword before she felt rough hands weave their way into her hair. Her eyes watered as Pete yanked her back.

"Nice try."

The last thing she heard was another clap of thunder as Pete laughed again, before he pushed her head forwards and smacked it heavily against the corner of the mantle. The world blurred and faded to black, echoes of his laughter ringing in her head.

* * *

Katty groaned and wondered if it was the throbbing in her head that woke her up. She felt like she'd been hit by a sack of bricks. She sat up slowly and reached a hand up to her hairline, grimacing when she felt a warm, sticky liquid.

Fuck. There wasn't any time to sit and pout, she scolded herself. Grabbing the corner of the mantle to steady herself, she glanced up at where the sword had been.

Gone.

Fuck.

How long ago had Pete left? What would she walk out to? Katty didn't waste any time, she stumbled out the door and started to make her way down the street.

Her mind was foggy. She frowned. Where was the meeting going to be again? Glancing up at the sky, she was slightly comforted by the fact that it was still dark out. Maybe not too much time had passed. Maybe she could still warn them.

Find Rick, her mind screamed.

Katty started off at a jog, which probably looked ridiculous considering how disorganized and uncoordinated she knew she felt.

In the distance, she saw the light of a fire and voices, mingled together.

She squinted, trying to listen as she jogged. Was that Rick? At least he made it to the meeting.

In front of her, _much_ closer to the entrance of the meeting than she was, was a male, unmistakeably blonde and large, even in the darkness.

"STOP!" she screamed at him. The figure froze before turning back to her briefly, over his shoulder. Pete snorted at her appearance and then brandished the sword as he reached the crowd of people discussing Rick's stay in Alexandria.

"You're not one of us. You're not one of us!" Pete howled in what Katty assumed was in Rick's direction.

"Pete, you don't want to do this," Katty heard a voice that belonged to Reg plead with the other, angry, drunk male.

Katty stumbled as she picked up her pace, frantic to get to the meeting and stop Pete from hurting anyone.

"Get the fuck away from me, Reg!" Pete snarled. Katty heard Reg attempt to reason with the volatile man some more, as Pete escalating in volume and anger.

Katty rounded the corner and flung herself through the gate just as Pete carelessly brandished the sword once more as he shoved Reg away from him, slicing the older man's throat in the process.

"No!" she cried as she stumbled aimlessly into Pete with the intent to subdue him, accompanied by Abraham and Michonne. The world faded in and out for a moment with the change in altitude and positioning, and all that she could made sense of were the screams.

Deanna's scream for her husband. The rest of the crowd's horrified noises. It was just screaming.

Abraham pinned Pete to the ground, his arms bent uncomfortably around his back.

Michonne took it upon herself to pick Katty off the ground, dragging her up by under her armpits.

"Katty! What happened to you?" Michonne's worried face faded in and out as the other woman took in the sight of Katty's face, covered in blood.

Words didn't come easily to Katty as she blubbered a response at Michonne that lacked any understandable or feasible message.

"Shh, shh, easy girl," Michonne murmured at her as she repositioned Katty beside herself, locking her arms around her waist to hold her up.

Katty's eyes immediately locked on the older couple, Deanna kneeling over her dying husband, screaming. Reg opening and closing his mouth, trying to communicate, trying to scream; it was horrifying and sad either way. The only thing that Katty had been thankful for in that moment is that Reg's suffering didn't last long. He bled out quickly and his body stilled within minutes.

"It's him! This is all him!" Pete screamed and cursed from under the hold that Abraham still had him in, face down in the dirt.

She could only watch, bug eyed and slack jawed, as Deanna's tear streaked face turned up to look at Rick once more. "Rick," she addressed him, her voice shaking with anguish.

"Do it."

Without missing a beat, Rick turned and raised his gun towards Pete, firing one shot into the still screaming man's head.

The crowd of people let out more horrified gasps, and Katty's head spun with all the commotion.

I think I'm going to pass out, flashed through her mind and she tried to vocalize that to Michonne, but nothing would come out. It was silent for a moment as everyone stared at the corpse that was Pete Anderson.

"Rick?" a tentative, shocked voice sounded from behind them at the gate. Katty turned at the same time Rick did, her vision again sliding in and out from the quick movement.

There were three people – three men. She knew two of them, didn't she?

"Daryl?" she slurred, unsure. Her eyes could be playing tricks on her.

Daryl ripped his stare away from Rick and Pete to focus on who had called him. She stumbled away from Michonne a few steps and towards Daryl, who immediately started to move towards her once he realized what was going to happen.

The world slid out from under her for the second time that evening as Katty toppled towards the ground and lost consciousness.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! Guess who's back together again? :) Next chapter will be more fun, I swear. I think we need it after the last few. I sure do, at least.

If the next chapter comes easily to me, I will hopefully have it out by the end of the week or early next, but no promises!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review,

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: "You know, there's still a few hours left of my birthday. You still have time to get me a present."_


	16. Disoriented

Heterochromia Iridum

 **This one's a long one, enjoy guys! That's what happens when I can't sleep, I finish chapters on time haha.**

 **Thank you to** **HPGunshot** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **I'm a Nerd and Proud** **,** **LeAnn388** **,** **Daydreamer003** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **bakaneko7** **,** **Faelyght** **,** **Guest** **,** **Jean** **,** **caper6six6** **, and** **JenTen** **for reviewing. Thanks to everyone new that's added this to their alerts or their favourites, we're at over 200 alerts now which is nuts.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Disoriented

Disoriented.

That's what described her state perfectly. Waking up in an unfamiliar bed, in a room that smelt like hospital supplies and cleaner. Her nose wrinkled as the smell burned slightly. It was quiet for the most part, but in the back of Katty's mind she could hear two voices speaking softly to each other.

Katty groaned as her eyes finally cooperated and opened. The room was light in color and had way too much natural sunlight for her to enjoy in that moment.

"Morning, sunshine," someone greeted. Katty frowned as she didn't recognize the female voice right away and turned her head towards where it came from.

"Tara!" she exclaimed happily. A pretty face with dark eyebrows smiled at her in response.

"You know," Rosita commented from her spot in between them, a book in her hands. "I half considered leaning over you with that face you were staring at Tara with the other day," she joked. "Teach you a lesson,"

Katty smiled in response, and then winced. The front of her head had started to pound, throb in pain.

"Yeah, take it easy for a while. You've had a rough few days, Katty," Rosita chided, before getting up to help Katty reposition herself in bed to sit up. "What happened last night? You really scared everyone," She looked her over, concerned.

"Went to drop something off for Carol and caught Pete in the middle of taking Michonne's sword. Tried to stop him and he smacked my head into the mantle piece," she explained, gingerly reaching up to trace her fingers along where she had been hurt. Katty was somewhat surprised to feel the rough bumps of stitches in her hairline. She winced and removed her hand.

The look on Rosita's face was less than pleased, "Katty, he could have killed you – "

"I know," Katty interrupted rudely, very aware that she was about to get a lecture. "He was drunk and I thought I could distract him long enough," She felt her eyes burn, thinking about Reg. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt." Katty added quietly.

This was your fault, her conscious whispered at her. You should have been able to stop him.

She heard Rosita let out a sigh and then left shortly, returning with her breakfast. It consisted of oat porridge, along with a glass of water and two white pills. Katty was about to protest that she wasn't about to use up any of Alexandria's pharmaceutical supply, but Rosita raised a hand to stop her.

"It's two pills, just take it," she interrupted her. "I'm not letting you leave until you do."

"Take 'em, and then we can walk arm in arm out of this bitch," Tara instructed at her through mouthfuls of her own oat porridge. She gulped down what was in her mouth before she continued.

"You had visitors last night but Rosita wouldn't let anyone in. Just Maggie to help," Tara tattled on her friend, sending a grin to Katty.

Rosita looked offended. "Katty is a light sleeper and she needed her rest. She can see everyone later," she chided like a mother explaining the rules to a child. "Besides, I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing a certain someone since they got back last night," Rosita teased, a mocking grin gracing her features.

Katty felt her face heat up and she immediately starting pushing her breakfast around, practically playing with it.

"Yeah, you're right, I haven't seen Aaron in a while," she deflected and winced when she heard how her voice took on an awkwardly loud, avoidant volume. Rosita and Tara laughed loudly in response.

The mention of Daryl and Aaron made Katty reflect on what had happened last night. Trying to stop Pete from stealing Michonne's sword, getting knocked out, chasing after him, watching Reg get killed, Rick shooting Pete, and end it all with her fainting. Kat felt her body sag slightly with the realization. It had been a horrible night.

Rosita seemed to sense the change in mood, and backed off from teasing her for the time being. "I changed the dressings on your back, it's healing well," she noted. "Bruising on your face is going down. The one at the back of your head is healing, and the laceration by your hairline only needed a couple of stitches," Rosita listed off. "I left the one on your arm alone because I remembered you just changed it day before yesterday."

"Holy shit, Katty," Tara gaped at her. "You put my head injury to shame."

"Lucky me, what's my prize?" Katty drawled sarcastically.

Rosita's hands went to her hips. "You need to take it easy. Maggie helped me with you last night, so you can prepare yourself for her to be upset with you as well. Not to mention Daryl," a smirk slid onto her mouth at the mention of the redneck again. "He freaked out when you fainted."

Katty cringed. "Great, just what I wanted to deal with."

Tara laughed again, "Wah, poor me, people care about me," she mocked as she pushed the covers back off of her legs and stacked the dishes beside her. Katty copied her and then quickly took a swig of water and swallowed the two pills Rosita had brought her. Her muscles sounded in protest as she started to move around.

"Okay, you guys can go. I'll hunt you down when I want to check on you." Rosita waved them away and towards the door.

"What're we going to do about not having a doctor now?" Katty asked, the problem looming over their heads. They weren't exactly short of people getting hurt lately.

Rosita sighed. "There's another doctor here, actually. I have to go talk to her about it this morning."

Katty's brow furrowed. "Really? Where's she been this entire time then?" This entire time, Pete's abuse of his family had been ignored since he was Alexandria's only doctor. She could easily say she was pissed that that had not been the case.

"Deanna said she's not exactly a medical doctor and that she usually keeps to herself," Rosita explained. "I'm just hoping she'll give it a shot."

Katty and Tara both nodded in understanding. "Well we definitely need her now. Good luck, Rosita," Tara called as she and Katty left the infirmary.

"What's your plan for the rest of the day?" Tara asked her conversationally as they walked slowly.

Katty sighed, "I think I'll go change my clothes and then go check in with a few people," she mused aloud, unsure of if she was going to try to avoid anyone or not. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Daryl or Aaron, but Katty wasn't in the mood to answer a million questions about what happened.

Tara nodded in understanding, "I'm pretty much doing the same thing," she echoed back, and her voice sounded distant. Katty wondered if Tara knew about Noah yet.

She bit her lip before voicing her question, wondering if this was about to bite her in the arse. Did she really want to be the one to tell her? Katty hesitated, and decided that the girl had a right to know. "Tara," she started, and the other girl turned to her curiously. "Did Rosita tell you about Noah?" she asked softly.

Tara nodded quickly and blinked hard a few times, "She did." Katty's heart panged for Tara, and she hesitated. This was another moment that she wished she was better at comforting people, wished that she knew what to say or not say. But she didn't. So Katty remained silent and just stared at her worn out boots.

"I know there's a lot to say, I just don't know how to start," Tara mumbled at her. Katty looked up, confused. "I'm just grateful that you guys were able to bring him back, you know?" she reached a shaky hand out to Katty's. "Maggie said that the group wants to get together tonight, maybe have another dinner or something. Talk a lot and drink, I think," she explained quickly. "You'll be there, right?"

Katty bobbed her head up and down, "Yeah, definitely, love," she cooed at her friend, who smiled weakly back at her.

"Okay," Tara gestured towards the house Katty was staying in, "let's not talk about this for right now. I'll see you later, okay?"

Katty nodded and squeezed her hand once before she let go and made her way to the home that housed her belongings. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement down the street and inclined her head towards it.

Someone was perched on the railing of the porch connected to Rick's house, and Katty could barely see tendrils of smoke drifting away from the person.

Daryl.

Her heart sped up as she watched him, and Katty could feel that, even from this distance, he was staring right back at her. Half of her wanted to just go up and talk to him, but she hesitated. Katty knew that she probably looked and smelt like shit. She knew that she definitely needed a shower and to try to wash away some of the caked blood in her hair that had started to itch. Spending the night in the infirmary meant that she had slept in her trousers, and Katty's skin crawled at the fact that she smelled a combination of grime and medical supplies.

Daryl would have to wait, she decided. So would Maggie and anyone else that wanted to scold her.

She spared one last glance over her shoulder at the man before she retreated into the house, excited to shower and change her clothing.

Katty walked upstairs, and found that she was compelled to stop in front of a bedroom that wasn't hers. It was the grey one, that she had left the pile of clothes in for whenever the team came back. Everything was just as she left it, and Katty stopped in the doorway to look over the room once more. When were those people coming back, she wondered. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she stood there, remembering what her last thoughts had been when she viewed this area before. She had uselessly mused to herself whether Calum would have liked the room, if this was how he would have chosen to decorate before the apocalypse.

Katty tugged her full bottom lip into her mouth as she felt the pang of sadness once again. She missed her friend.

Backing out of the room, she shut the door quietly. Rolling her eyes to herself, Katty retreated to her bedroom to grab a towel and a change of clothes. It didn't really do her any good to feel sad about a bedroom, she scolded.

"Get over yourself, Katty," she murmured aloud as she reached her destination.

She turned the water on, stripped off her clothes, and then paused to look in the mirror. She wasn't sure why, other than out of habit. It was somewhat self deprecating, considering how rough Katty knew she looked.

Katty cringed at what she saw. She honestly hadn't seen her own face in a few days, she knew that the bruise was definitely ugly and that it had swollen part of her eye up. So, due to that, she avoided mirrors. Looking at herself now, she was at least glad to see some improvement. The swelling had gone down, and there was minimal bruising left from when Aiden had hit her. The slice along her throat had healed for the most part, just a few parts were still scabbed over. The few, dark stitches were luckily mostly hidden in her hairline. Considering how beat up and fatigued she felt, Katty figured she looked alright.

She glanced down at her arm and decided to remove the gauze around it. It definitely looked better. Katty was thankful that she was a quick healer, she always had been. It still took longer to heal than the other marks and lacerations on her body, but the scratch was well on it's way. The butterfly closures were still intact, so Katty decided to leave them on for her shower. Maybe afterwards, she'd leave the scratch uncovered. It didn't look angry or infected, so people were less likely to ask questions about it.

Turning around, she looked over her back. Maggie and Rosita had apparently packed a great deal more bandages on her, probably so she could sleep through the night on her back. Katty winced and pulled at the dressings, they would be useless in the shower. For the most part, her back was healing nicely. There wouldn't be a million scars and gouges on her back like she had figured, so Katty couldn't complain. She left the few smaller plaster bandages on and then turned back around in the mirror.

Katty quickly checked out her arse, because she was female, after all.

"At least I look like I'm gaining some weight back," she muttered before she stepped into the shower. The hot water made her wince, and she turned the temperature down some. She just stood there in the stream from the main shower head, not thinking and not moving. After a while, her muscles lost the tension that they had been carrying for the past few days. Her shoulders relaxed and Katty sighed at the difference.

She gingerly washed her hair, careful to avoid her stitches and the scab at the back of her head. At one point, Katty laughed out loud at her condition. Four or five days ago, she had been completely fine. Now look at her.

Her back and arm stung lightly from the water, but Katty didn't really care. She probably stood there for another ten minutes after she finished rinsing her hair, unwilling to leave right away.

When she turned the water off and got out, Katty couldn't make herself put on actual trousers or her jeans. She couldn't keep the stupid grin off her face as she put on the awful, sequin shorts again and tossed a vest top on over it, ignoring her bra completely. Her back deserved a break, she thought. Her old Timberland boots were shoved back onto her feet, and then Katty headed for the door.

Opening it, she froze. Daryl was standing on the covered porch, a few feet away. Her eyebrows lifted in confusion when she noticed, from his posture and positioning, that he had been pacing back and forth.

They both stood there, not saying anything, just staring at the other. Daryl was wearing his dark jacket with his leather vest over top, and looked tired, like he hadn't really slept since he'd been gone. He also looked like he needed to shower and change his clothes as well; his pants were caked in dirt and grime, and his hair wasn't much better.

Katty couldn't keep the stupid smile off her face; Daryl Dixon was a sight for sore eyes.

"Why d'ya keep wearin' those things?" he asked gruffly, staring at her choice of shorts with a disgruntled look on his face, as if the fabric personally offended him.

Katty let out a loud, unattractive laugh, and she saw him jump slightly at the sudden noise.

"Because I can see how jealous you are of them. Back off, Daryl, they're mine," she whispered in his ear as she passed him, making sure to brush against his side at the same time. It had been too long since she had gotten the chance to tease him, she could feel herself becoming giddy at the chance.

Daryl effectively stiffened and took a solid step away from her, before following Katty down the steps of the house.

"Hold up," he grouched at her, and she paused her step briefly to look over at him. He, somewhat roughly, grabbed her good arm and turned her to look at her back.

His face was creased, brow furrowed as his eyes raked over her. "Th'fuck happened ta ya last night?" Daryl asked coarsely, and Katty frowned. He sounded irritated.

Self-consciously, she reached a hand behind her to her exposed shoulder blade, what she assumed had caught his eye first. "I'm alright, Daryl," she said calmly, not knowing what he knew or what he expected her to explain.

"Yer back looks like it went through a damn cheese grater," he hissed at her, his eyes narrowed. She watched as he scanned her face as well, "An' the hell happened to yer face?" his hand went up and grabbed her chin to turn her head so he could study the bruising and the stitches better.

If Katty had hackles, they would have been raised. She batted his hand away from her face, and angry look on her own. She hadn't thought her back had looked _that_ awful. "Sorry I don't look up to your standards," she snapped at him sarcastically, and ripped her arm out of his grip.

Like hell she was going to explain anything to him now.

She stalked off, only taking a few steps before she heard Daryl let out an annoyed puff of air before his footsteps followed closely behind hers. Katty wasn't sure where she was walking to, but apparently she was headed towards the two houses that Rick's group occupied.

"Ain't done talkin' to ya," Daryl called at her, and she sped up her pace, thoroughly annoyed at him. Daryl caught up to her easily, and she felt him grab her arm once more. Damn Daryl and his stupid long legs, Katty scowled at him.

His eyes caught the scratch on her throat and then the bigger one on her other arm, and she saw him grit his teeth. "Leave for four damn days 'nd come back ta find ya beat ta shit," he snapped at her. "Should lock ya in the closet next time I leave, make sure ya don't get hurt."

Katty heard a couple doors open and footsteps approach and stop, waiting on the adjacent verandas. Neither of them glanced over to see who it was, both too concerned with scowling at each other. Katty could feel her blood boil at the implications of his words. He doesn't think I can take care of myself, she realized, irritated.

"I don't need you to protect me, Daryl. _I'm fine_ ," she seethed at him, leaning in closer to his face so that she could enunciate her words clearly for him.

"Yeah, I can see that worked out great for ya," he scoffed disbelievingly.

Asshole.

Katty wanted to breathe fire. If this was his way of showing that he was upset that she got hurt, she was sick of it already. Instead of replying to his sarcasm, she decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

"Hey, Daryl, missed you too. Glad to see you're okay. I'm alright, had a bloody awful time getting assaulted, watching people die, getting blasted to shit, almost getting killed by Biters, and trying to stop Pete from murdering Rick with a goddamn sword, but all in all, can't complain. How was your week, love?" she sneered sarcastically at him.

Daryl's grip slackened on her arm, and his mouth opened and closed a few times, no sound coming out. He finally stopped impersonating a fish, and started worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Daryl eyes scanned over her face a few times, and his anger turned into a nervous energy.

Katty could feel her own anger diminish, and she let out a sigh as her shoulders sagged. Half of her wanted to slap him, the other, larger part of her wanted to hug him. She doubted that either of those actions would go over well with Daryl, though, so Katty just stood there, looking back at him.

"That's rough man," They both jumped as they remembered that they had an apparent audience. Glenn and Maggie were leaned against the railing of the veranda. Glenn had been the one to speak, and he was giving Daryl a sympathetic look.

Behind them, Tara and Abraham were standing, both of which looked amused. Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Carol, who was holding Judith, were on the other porch. There was a mixture of amused and shocked faces, and Katty felt her own heat up in response.

"Gotta say, I was picturin' a sexier reunion," she heard Abraham mutter to Tara, who laughed. Katty felt her jaw drop.

"Nosey buggers," she spluttered, thoroughly embarrassed. "All of you."

She could feel Daryl shuffle uncomfortably beside her; Katty knew it was just a matter of time before he stalked off and didn't talk to her for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, Eugene appeared, walking towards them at a fast pace and an important look on his typically calm face.

"Rick, people," he called out, somewhat winded. Katty frowned, confused as to what exactly that meant.

"What people?" Rick asked gruffly as he made his way down the steps and towards Eugene, Michonne and Carl trailing behind him.

"Identified himself as Heath, and that his team has been on a run the last couple weeks. Came in a truck with two other men and a woman," Eugene explained quickly. "They don't appear to pose a threat," he added, "Though Heath threatened to 'beat my ass' if I didn't open the gate for them," Eugene added as an afterthought, a frown appearing on his face.

Rick nodded and then looked glanced towards Maggie, "You goin' up to see Deanna?" he asked the younger woman.

She nodded, understanding what he was about to say, "I'll let her know," she replied shortly, squeezed Glenn's hand once before turning and departing.

"Carl, stay back here with Judith," Rick instructed to his son, who just shrugged and nodded in response. He then turned to the remaining lot of them. "Suppose some of us should introduce ourselves," he commented, though Katty thought his tone didn't sound entirely genial.

Michonne and Glenn fell into step beside Rick immediately. Katty, interested in who the residents were who just returned, started to walk over to join them. Considering that at least a couple of them were living in the house with her, Katty felt she had a vested interest in them.

A hand lightly reached out and touched her arm hesitantly. She looked over at who it was.

* * *

Daryl traced his eyes over her face briefly to help him gauge her reaction. She was probably going to yell at him again, he realized dully. That had been great.

"Stay back a bit, alright?" He asked her quietly, deciding that if he phrased it in a question, she might not bite his head off.

Kat looked at him for a minute with a frown, before she nodded slowly.

"Yeah, alright," she said back to him, and Daryl nodded once before he dropped his hand from her arm. When he went to turn away, Kat made him stop.

"Um," Daryl squinted a bit. Why did _she_ look nervous now? "We'll talk later, yeah?"

Daryl wanted to say no. In all honesty, after arguing and then getting caught and teased by the rest of the group, the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Kat some more. They had spoken for all of five minutes and almost ended up shouting at each other.

He considered that he could say yes and then just avoid her. Fucking pussy, he scolded himself. It's just Kat.

"Yeah," he grunted shortly at her, not sure if it was a lie or not. Either way, Daryl didn't meet her eyes. He turned away and started walking in the direction that Rick, Michonne and Glenn had left in.

When Kat fainted last night, he had responded in the only way he could process at the time. By getting irrevocably angry and panicking. After being gone for four days, to walk in to Kat looking half dead and suddenly becoming unconscious, he didn't know how to react properly. Luckily Michonne had been nearby and partially grabbed Kat before she hit the ground, but when he had been kicked out of the infirmary after bringing her there, Daryl had thrown a few choice words at Rosita that he now wanted to take back.

He still had no idea what had happened to her last night; Carol had informed him about the extent of her injuries from the warehouse run along with what happened to Noah and Aiden. Rick and Carol had guessed it had something to do with Pete. They had heard her yell for him to stop shortly before she appeared after Pete. If that was true, it pissed Daryl off. Fuckin' girl probably barely weighed a buck ten soaking wet, and for her to go after a drunk, abusive asshole that was twice her size was fuckin' stupid.

He had been about to tell her so, before she went on a sarcastic tirade and verbally put him in his place. Kat had condescendingly referred to him as 'love' again, which really shut him up. She was pissed.

Snapping out of his self pity party, he looked up to see an old truck and four people in the distance, unloading belongings and supplies from it. Rick had said something to the three of them which Daryl had evidently missed.

Out of the four people, one was female, like Eugene had said. The girl was short and small with dark hair pulled into a scraggly braid. Two of the other men had deeper skin, one with a shaved head and a beard and the other with pulled back hair and thick rimmed glasses. Daryl found himself staring at the last guy, already distrusting of the new people. The last guy was tall and lanky, with dark, pretty boy hair and a stupid grin on his face. He was in the middle of throwing a box of something at the bald guy, and laughed when he didn't catch it.

Idiot, Daryl thought to himself.

As they advanced, the group of people looked up and towards them.

"You all must be part of Eugene's group, right?" The guy with glasses called out to them.

The pretty boy made a 'tsk' noise, "Some welcoming committee," he scoffed, but his tone lacked any bite. "At least give us a smile, big boy," he directed that last comment at Rick with a wink. Daryl resisted scoffing out loud.

Glasses, however, didn't hold back in rolling his eyes. "Shut up, dude."

Rick ignored the comment. "I'm Rick, this is Glenn, Michonne and Daryl," he said evenly, gesturing at each of them in turn.

Glasses nodded. "I'm Heath and this is my team. Annie, Scott, and – "

An odd, choking gasp sounded behind them, and Daryl turned. Kat was standing behind them, about 30 feet, trembling. Her eyes were wide as saucers and locked on something, past Daryl.

"Holy shit," a disbelieving voice whispered. Daryl swiveled his head to see the pretty boy staring back at Kat with a similar, stunned expression. Everything that he was holding in his arms fell and hit the floor, and he jerked forward into a full sprint. Daryl immediately positioned himself to stop the idiot from getting to Kat, but he froze with their next words.

" _Calum!"_

" _Katty!"_

Calum had run around them to get to Kat, who also had started to sprint at the lanky male. They met at an awkward place, in front of the section of water in Alexandria. Both running at each other, they had difficulty stopping and Kat ended up launching herself at Calum, wrapping her legs around him and sending them both into the water.

They were both blubbering at each other, Kat might have been crying; it was difficult to tell since now they were soaking wet.

The shock had worn off, and Daryl felt a twinge of jealousy at Calum. He pulled Kat out of the water and picked her up briefly to hug her. His eyes snapped down at her newly exposed skin on her upper leg. The large, oddly shaped scar, white and pink against her skin, stuck out to him immediately, and Daryl frowned.

What the hell did that?

He only caught a brief glimpse of it before Kat swatted at Calum and laughed, telling him to put her down, and fixed her clothes.

They were talking much too fast for anyone to keep up or understand, rapid fire blathering. Daryl wasn't sure either of them understood what the other was saying, considering that they were talking over each other.

Kat suddenly paused, and seemed to think something over. Calum stopped as well.

"What?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, "You've been here this entire time?"

"Yeah, but – "

Kat reached out and shoved Calum, who toppled over back into the water. Daryl could hear Glenn and Michonne snigger beside him.

"I've been looking for you for months!" she snapped, irritated.

"I never stopped looking for you either!" he protested, scrambling out of the water once more.

"It's true, he's quite whiney about you actually," the man named Scott chimed in while he pulled more boxes from the truck.

"See?" Calum cocked an eyebrow at her as he wrung out his shirt and ran a hand over his hair to push it back. "How did you get here anyways? Rick's group find ya?"

Kat shook her head. "Aaron and Eric, just over two months ago. Only decided to come back with them recently though."

Calum's jaw dropped. "You're fucking kidding me. _You're_ who Aaron was talking about?" Kat nodded in response.

"I hate to break up this reunion," Annie commented, though the look on her face as she eyed Kat said differently. Daryl felt himself bristling at her expression. "But we have to unpack everything and report to Deanna."

"Right, sorry, Annie," Calum waved her off. "We've been gone for – what – two weeks?" he looked over to Heath, who nodded. "Anyone know the date?"

Daryl frowned, not understanding why anyone would care what the date was anymore.

"July 30th," Michonne answered. "Deanna likes to keep track," she offered at the confused looks she received in return.

Calum let out a whoop of laughter. "What a coincidence, huh Katty?" she looked confused at the question, so Calum laughed again. "Happy birthday, Kitty Cat." Daryl frowned at the nickname. She mentioned that Merle had called her that, too, but from Calum, it ignited a spark of jealousy.

Kat still looked somewhat confused. Daryl understood why; birthdays weren't an occasion that anyone celebrated anymore. Not that he had ever celebrated his, but Daryl knew that most other people did before the end of the world.

"Oh," she blinked.

"Looks like we'll have something to celebrate tonight," Glenn commented with a grin. Kat immediately shook her head.

"No way, I don't want anyone making a big deal about it," she protested, waving her hands in front of herself slightly.

Calum placed a hand on Kat's lower back and Daryl felt his jaw clench and his muscles tense. "I'm going to unload everything, so we'll catch up tonight, hopefully, okay?" he asked, raking his eyes over her like she'd disappear. "I can't believe you're here," he added with another flash of white teeth.

She nodded immediately, "Yeah, of course," she grunted as he hugged her tightly again before turning back to the team. Daryl didn't like Calum.

"Thanks for coming by and introducing yourselves," Heath commented, directing his attention to Rick. "I'm sure we'll talk again soon."

Daryl wondered if he'd be so keen if he knew what had transpired in the time that they had been away. He'd certainly know after talking with Deanna, though.

He watched as Glenn and Michonne started to excitably talk to Kat about Calum and her birthday.

Daryl really didn't like Calum.

And when he didn't like something, Daryl avoided it. He saw Rick watching him, and he avoided eye contact immediately. Walking away quickly, Daryl tried to appear as if he wasn't running away with his tail between his legs. Fucking pussy, he scolded himself.

Looks like Daryl agreeing to talk to Kat later was a lie after all.

* * *

Daryl was drunk and miserable.

He normally avoided drinking with people, because when he did he was often an asshole, but tonight he had decided, _fuck it_. Carol had practically coerced him into attending, spouting off shit about how the family needed to be together tonight, and guilt tripping him because he hadn't been around for the past few days.

So they were all sitting, squished around the table, with Kat at the end because she was declared 'the birthday guest'. No one exactly had time or resources for presents or birthday cake, so she got the least squished spot at the end.

He avoided her at all costs, and only sat down for dinner after everyone else had already been seated. As soon as the conversation had turned to the new arrivals of the day, which was quite quickly, Daryl had started to drink.

Mostly everyone else was drinking wine, but Daryl had quickly zeroed in on a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"That's amazing that you two found each other again," Carol commented, smiling at Kat. Daryl winced. Yeah, a real fucking beautiful romance story, he thought sarcastically as he gulped down the rest of his glass.

"Yeah," Kat laughed, "couldn't believe it when I saw that stupid grin." Daryl didn't like the smile or tone she had when she said that.

"You don't mean that," Glenn said with a bounce of his eyebrows. "He's pretty good looking."

Kat snorted, "Glenn, Maggie is sitting right next to you, have some decency."

Daryl couldn't help but snort as well when everyone else started laughing at Glenn's expense. He had been avoiding looking at Kat or even listening to anything she said, but he couldn't help it at that. When she had walked in, he almost cursed out loud at how _good_ she looked. She was practically glowing, and it pissed him off that it wasn't because of him.

He wondered bitterly if Kat would even bother to talk to him anymore, now that she had _Calum_ back. Daryl supposed not; maybe he had just been a replacement for her friend that she had obviously been missing.

God, he sounded like a damn girl. Time for another drink.

"How old are you now, Katty?" Rick asked, a tipsy grin on his face. Daryl's ears perked up at the question. He ventured a glance towards the girl, who immediately caught his eye before addressing Rick with a sheepish smile.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest," Kat admitted with a laugh. "I was trying to figure it out earlier, actually."

"Yeah, you have one of those faces that could either be like eighteen or thirty-five, it's hard to tell," Glenn said between sips of wine. His face was red, Daryl realized with a smirk.

Kat placed her pointer finger and thumb in front of her mouth in a thinking pose as she stared at Glenn contemplatively.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you to fuck off or not."

Snorts of laughter from the group covered Glenn's frantic protests and declarations that it was a compliment.

"I'm somewhere in my twenties," Kat confirmed with a laugh. Daryl cringed while he sipped his drink. He definitely wasn't in his twenties.

"What's something you did on your last birthday?" Maggie asked with a smile.

Kat cringed. "Can't remember much past shots, really," she admitted.

"That, we can do!" Tara called as she shoved her chair away from the table.

"Oh no," she groaned in response. "You're going to kill me." Kat complained as she got up from the table as well to stand by the island. Tara was pulling out a few more cups.

"Who else is doing a shot?" the brunette goaded. "Glenn, get your ass up here."

Everyone else that was sensible declined, but Glenn was easily peer pressured and got up to join them.

Daryl refilled his own cup and glanced up when he heard Kat gasp.

"That's not a shot, Tara, that's a fucking glass," she whined.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Katty," Tara disregarded her with a laugh. Glenn and Kat exchanged worried glances.

"Okay, cheers, everyone," Tara called as she pushed the two other 'shots' towards Glenn and Kat. "And happy birthday to Katty!"

The rest of the room, other than Daryl, echoed the words back, and Kat grinned at everyone before she clinked glasses with the other two standing at the island. Daryl watched as she tapped the glass on the table lightly before throwing back the glass quickly and placing it back on the table.

Tara and Glenn coughed as they swallowed whatever it was down.

"Katty, you're a pro!" Abraham laughed.

"Thanks, it runs in the family, on my mom's side," Kat replied sarcastically.

Rosita's eyebrows raised. "What did she do for a living?"

"Vicodin and Cocaine, mostly, but she dabbled in alcohol," she replied dully. Daryl snorted. At least they had one thing in common. He looked away quickly when he saw Kat looking at him, and decided it was time to go outside for a smoke.

Get away from those damn eyes.

Daryl tried not to stumble as he went out front to the porch and shut the door behind him as quietly as he could, which ended up not being that silent. As soon as he got up, he felt the effects of alcohol tenfold more, so the fresh air was probably for the best. If he had stayed, his inhibitions and self control probably would have disappeared and Daryl would have said something to Kat that he didn't want to come out.

Not feeling entirely capable to stand for a long period of time, Daryl plopped down unceremoniously on the bench underneath a window in the back corner of the porch. He sighed and stretched out his feet as he pulled a cigarette and his lighter out.

Guess that cigarette in the car _was_ the last one he was going to share with Kat, he realized morosely.

He saw light from the door opening and light footsteps sounded across the wooden porch.

 _Speak of the fuckin' devil._

* * *

She felt like Daryl had been avoiding her all night, avoiding everyone really, and she was just drunk enough to passively confront him about it. In her hand, she wielded a bottle of wine that was three quarters full. Think of it as a peace offering, she had told herself when she grabbed it off the counter.

She hadn't been able to talk to Calum since their short reunion. It took a long time to unpack and organize everything and then the group spoke with Deanna for a while; he hadn't been over to find her before she left for the group dinner. So Katty had been looking forward to see Daryl, but it hadn't exactly gone to plan.

He had definitely been avoiding her. As soon as Calum appeared, he seemed to disappear. She was hoping to talk to Daryl earlier. She wanted to know about the scouting expedition, know about how he was, know _anything_.

But, like always, the man was a fucking enigma, a mystery, and refused to meet her eye all night or even acknowledge her. She knew it was obvious that she was staring, and that everyone else had definitely noticed the hopeless looks, but Daryl remained purposefully oblivious.

Walking in tonight, she had been happy that she was going to be spending the evening with family, and _ecstatic_ that Daryl was going to be there. She missed their talks, even though they were often one sided, missed staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking, missed his entire presence, really, since he had been gone. It had been a rough few days and she hopelessly thought that Daryl would instantly make it better.

Maybe when he left, he realized that he didn't want anything to do with her, she nervously thought with a bite of her lip. She wasn't sure to begin with where they stood or what he thought, but she was just drunk enough to try to find out tonight.

Enough waiting.

She paused once she was in front of him, and suddenly lost her words. She knew some of it was her drunk brain, but Daryl casually splayed on the bench with a cigarette and illuminated by moonlight, made her want to groan. He has no fucking clue how sexy he is.

"Hi," Katty called lamely, hating how her voice trailed off uncertainly at the end.

Daryl looked surprised to see her there, and Katty almost turned and ran when he didn't say anything back right away. Thank god that drinking gave her confidence, because she didn't. Katty just raised the wine bottle and shook it slightly in his direction.

Luckily, Daryl let out a breath of laughter and waved at her with his hand that held a cigarette. She knew Daryl had been drinking quite a bit, which is probably why he didn't send her away.

Katty grinned at him and then plopped down on the bench next to him, not bothering to create any sort of space between them. Her leg pressed against the side of his, and Katty was pleased when he didn't move away.

They were quiet for a minute, and Katty took a swig from the wine and placed it back in her lap. She could feel Daryl watching her, and it sent shocks down her body to her core.

I'm so fucked, Katty groaned to herself.

She had an urge to smoke, and leaned over him to grab it. He held it in his opposite hand, so Katty practically draped herself across him to grab it, her breasts grazing across his arm and chest. She felt Daryl stiffen beside her and then let out an irritated sigh.

"How's the boyfriend?" he asked bluntly. Katty choking on the drag that she took, and then laughed the rest of the smoke out on her exhale.

"You jealous of Calum, Daryl?" she replied before she could think about it.

He scoffed and roughly ran his hand through his hair as he looked away. Katty took that time to admire him again, and felt a smile slide onto her face again.

"Just seems like an idiot," Daryl commented offhandedly as he picked at his nails.

"He is," Katty agreed as she held the cigarette out to him, "but he's also saved my life countless times and has a good heart," she tried not to let her mind wander to when she almost shot herself. "But he's not my type."

Daryl glanced back at her, surprised, and then let out a snort. "Not into pretty boys?"

"Nah," Daryl hadn't taken the smoke back, so she took another drag.

He didn't ask her to elaborate, but Katty buzzed with excitement that he was so annoyed by Calum. That had to be a good sign, right?

"How'd the scouting expedition go?" she asked lightly, glad that some of the tension had dissipated between them. Maybe Daryl just didn't do well with new people.

Daryl clumsily reached for the cigarette, and more tiny, electric shocks shot up her arm when his hand fell over hers.

"Shit," Daryl answered shortly. He took a drag before he elaborated. "Followed some guy for a while, lost him. Ended up at a warehouse lookin' for supplies and it was a trap by some crazies, got boxed in by Walkers 'til Morgan came along."

Katty turned her body so that she was sitting sideways on the bench, facing Daryl. "Morgan's the one you brought back?"

Daryl nodded, studying the cigarette disinterestedly. "Yeah. Knows Rick from the beginnin'."

"What do you mean by 'crazies'?" Katty fired off the next question before she could help it. She pulled her feet up, one leg bent and resting on the bench, the other on the ground, stretched out over Daryl's feet. She wondered if he was too drunk to notice she was resting her feet on him.

"Some assholes that've been stringin' people up 'nd leavin' 'em. Carvin' W's into their foreheads," he replied, stretching his arms and then propping them behind himself on the bench. "Ain't suppose ta go out 'nd look for people 'til we sort 'em out."

Drunk brain Katty wanted to smile at how he pronounced the letter 'W', but the rest of the content unsettled her. People were scarier than the dead these days.

"Probably for the best," she mumbled back and took another drink of wine. "That's scary, though. I'm glad you two are okay."

Daryl shrugged, and her lips turned up at the noncommittal gesture.

"You say 'W' really cute, by the way," Katty let out a drunken giggle, well aware of how stupid that sounded.

The look Daryl sent her made her wonder if she had grown a second head. He looked pointedly towards the bottle of wine between her legs.

"I think ya had enough," he commented with a raise of his eyebrows, and leaned forward to grab it.

Like a child, Katty snatched it away and held it as far as she could, behind her head.

"No, it's good, I'm fine," she protested with a grin. The cool night air had made the alcohol rush to her brain, apparently.

"Hand it over," Daryl demanded, his lips twisted up in a smirk. It distracted her, and Katty immediately started chewing her lower lip as she watched him.

With her slow reflexes, she didn't try to stop him when he grabbed her. Daryl grabbed Katty by her hips and pulled her towards him brusquely. Katty let out an embarrassing squeal. From her sideways position on the bench, her legs practically ended up wrapped around his waist.

Daryl snatched the bottle out of her hands and she let out a noise of protest, but then stopped and watched him, fascinated as Daryl took a long swig.

"It's my birthday, you aren't supposed to take things from me," she tried to scold him but it sounded weak, even to her drunk brain.

Daryl snorted, "Consider it a present. Ya won't get alcohol poisonin'."

Katty pulled her legs back and switched so she was sitting with her legs folded under her. "That's a shit present, Daryl."

"Didn't know ta get ya anythin'," he muttered as he put the cigarette out in the ashtray beside him.

Katty grinned at him, "You know, there's still a few hours left of my birthday. You still have time to get me a present."

Daryl let out a bark of laughter and turned to peer at her. "'Nd what the hell am I supposed ta get ya, in the middle of the night?"

There was no suggestive inflection or tone in his words, but something about what he said sent another pulse straight to her centre. The air around them became thick, and Katty wiggled where she sat, suddenly uncomfortable. Time seemed to slow down as she stared at him, and her foggy mind cleared enough to remember how Daryl felt against her, pressed into a tree.

Fuck it.

Katty had no clue how it happened or who moved first, but Daryl's lips roughly crashed into hers. It was demanding and hungry, and she was instantly addicted. Her hand reached up and fisted into the fabric of his shirt, and she attempted to pull him closer. He tasted like wine and cigarette smoke and Katty was sure she held a similar note. She felt herself becoming annoyed that they weren't close enough, and Katty leant forward, crushing her mouth into Daryl's more.

He seemed to have a similar thought, and she felt his hands on her hips for the second time that night. Daryl pulled at her hips and belt loops, and Katty felt excitement reverberate through her as she processed what he wanted. He ripped his lips off hers briefly and pressed their foreheads together. His eyes were dark and full of desire.

"Move, girl," he rasped at her, impatiently.

Obliging his demand, Katty quickly sung a leg over him and settled on his lap. Daryl wound a hair into her hair and pulled her face to his again. She felt Daryl's tongue push into her mouth, and Katty eagerly let him take control. Opening her mouth, she encouraged him further and ran her tongue along his. He responded in full, pulling Katty closer and tracing the outline of her mouth with his tongue, his grip never slackening from her hair. Katty switched her grasp and slung her arms loosely around Daryl's neck, her fingers tugging at the ends of his hair.

She could feel Daryl becoming less domineering and demanding than he had initially, and Katty wanted to change that. She wanted rough right now. Katty pulled away slightly from the kiss, just to clash her mouth against his once more, closing her teeth around his bottom lip and tugging it roughly as she pulled away. Daryl made a noise in the back of his throat and hungrily pushed their lips back together briefly before he trailed away from her mouth. Katty had little time to think before his grip tightened in her hair and he jerked her head back, exposing her throat.

Immediately, his mouth travelled down the column of her throat, the rough texture of his scruff making her squirm. Katty let out a whimper as Daryl bit down at the corner of her jaw, under her ear, and Katty felt her hips jerk involuntarily against his. She felt him smirk against her skin, and he repeated the process. Rough lips slid along her neck once more before he clamped down on the same spot under her ear. The moan she let out was louder this time, and Daryl let out a breath of laughter before his hands retreated from her hair. He reattached his lips hungrily to hers, and forced his tongue back into Katty's mouth, sliding his tongue against hers demandingly. Daryl grabbed at Katty's hips this time, and pushed down on her, making her grind against him. She let out another embarrassing whimper into his mouth at the feel of his hardness pressed against her core, feeling needy and wound entirely too tight.

"Daryl," she whined, and his grip tightened on her hips, moving her against him again as their mouth clashed drunkenly and repeatedly.

"Hey, Katty, are you out here?" they both froze at the sound of Maggie's voice. "I'm going home; do you want to walk with me?"

Daryl practically shoved her off of him and back beside him on the bench before she had time to think. She sat there, stunned as Maggie's head appeared around the corner.

"Katty? You hear me?"

Katty's mouth opened and closed a couple times, her foggy, horny mind not having caught up yet to the present scenario.

"Uh – sure, yeah," she replied, wincing when her voice was higher pitched than normal. Katty wondered if her legs were going to work when she got up.

When she didn't move, Maggie arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you going to get up?" she asked slowly, an amused smile appearing on her lips.

"Yeah," Katty quipped back quickly, and shot up from her seat. She immediately stumbled a pace forward, her legs feeling like jelly. Daryl laughed lightly behind her and Katty's face started to burn, but she refused to look back at him.

Maggie laughed as well, "Easy. Let's go." She hooked arms with her and led her down the stairs to the porch, Maggie's legs a lot steadier than Katty's.

Katty was trying not to focus on the uncomfortable feeling between her legs, and missed when Maggie said something to her as they walked to Katty's house.

"What?" she asked blankly.

"I said happy birthday again," Maggie said with a laugh. "You're sure out of it."

"Yeah, sorry. Lots of thinking," Katty replied lamely.

Maggie snorted. "Daryl that good?"

Katty tripped over her feet again, and was thankful that Maggie had a solid grip on her arm. "Wot?" she squawked. Maggie sent her an amused look.

"Oh please, I heard you moan when I opened the door."

"Fuck my life."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! This was fun to write; I love awkward Katty. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to finish this one up for you.

edit: So this doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be smooth sailing for them now. Especially considering that neither Daryl or Katty are very good with people or talking about emotions, and the fact that they were both drunk here, it might be rocky tomorrow. Haha, I'm just hoping you guys keep an open mind because they might not 'get together' in the conventional sense, because I can't imagine either of them doing that really. Their relationship definitely will escalate, and I can promise that you won't have to wait another 16 chapters for anything more than a kiss. Hopefully I can surprise you in that way ;)

Now that Calum's here, we'll go more into Katty's past as well, and unravel what happened at Woodbury. More flashbacks, more Merle, and I'm going to take this in a bit of a different direction from the show and have the Wolves more involved. I've planned to end this story around the Season 6 midfinale, and then possibly a sequel in the works for all things Negan. :)

Feed a writer and leave a review!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next time: "You want to know about Project Wildfire? What does it matter anymore?"_


	17. Answers

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! I'm pretty busy right now, but I just had to get another one out before the show starts up again on Sunday. I'm so excited! Though I'll probably need a box of tissues. Who else is pumped?**

 **Thank you to** **jomoisbae81** **,** **I'm a Nerd and Proud** **,** **Guest** **,** **JenTen** **,** **Jennifer** **,** **Faelyght** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **sweetlilac** **,** **.2016** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Steph** **,** **KuteKati1989** **,** **Jean** **,** **norcalpc** **,** **Suzzie** **, Bactrian Camel, ****Lady-Finwe** **,** **Dezzal** **, and** **GawkyTC** **. Thank you to everyone new that's added this story to their alerts and favourites, and thank you even to whoever hasn't enjoyed this story for giving it a shot. A couple reviews haven't been the nicest, but honestly, this is basically the first thing I've ever written, and everyone has a different opinion, so it's alright. Thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Answers

Katherine Harvey was fucked.

And not in the good way. She was fucked in the sense of someone that had woken up hung over and in the middle of eating breakfast realized that they had thrown themselves at Daryl Dixon and grinded on his cock last night. Screwed in the way that she had remembered that Maggie had caught them and it had taken Katty twenty minutes of drunken pleas before her friend finally caved and promised not to tell anyone except for Glenn, because she "couldn't possibly keep secrets from him". Which, knowing Glenn, probably meant that everyone would find out anyways.

She subtly tried not to react when the memory flooded her conscious mind, but apparently simultaneous choking and wheezing on oat porridge midway through eating it was enough cause for concern.

"Holy shit, Katty, chew your food," Calum laughed from across from her at the table. "What's your problem?"

She coughed a few more times before the food dislodged from her trachea. "Nothing," Katty gasped. Her face fell into a grimace and Katty's eyes glued themselves to her bowl of oat porridge, willing Calum to mind his own business and not investigate further.

She glanced up after a moment to see her friend's lips quirked into an amused expression. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment before casually asking, "This wouldn't have anything to do with you drunkenly yelling at Maggie 'don't tell anyone' and following it up with 'I felt his bloody dick, Mags,' last night, would it?"

The noise Katty emitted was reminiscent of a dying animal, possibly of feline variety. She opened her mouth, her mind blank of any viable excuses, and then shut her gob dumbly before planting her forehead loudly on the wooden surface of the table. The front of her head throbbed dully, adding to the still there headache from dehydration.

"I'm such a prat, Calum," she groaned into the table.

"Yup," he popped in return. Katty rolled her face from the table so that she could scowl up at Calum's Cheshire face. "Who was it?"

"Daryl," Katty whispered in return, aware that they weren't the only ones in the house currently.

She had returned home last night to find out that the three men that had been out on the scouting expedition were all, in fact, living at the house Katty had been occupying. Heath, Scott, and incidentally, Calum. She didn't fail to see the irony in the fact that her lost friend had been residing in Alexandria, right in the particular room that she had wondered if he would have liked, pre-apocalypse. They had stayed up late last night, talking and, on Katty's end, yelling and crying. The reunion had finally hit her and she had become emotional in her inebriated state. The night had ended with her clinging to Calum, sleeping, drooling, and sprawled out beside him in the aforementioned bedroom.

"Daryl?" Calum laughed, somewhat surprised. "The hillbilly? He's your type?"

Katty scowled once more at him, "Don't call him that," she snapped irritably, sitting up and crossing her arms across her chest.

Calum waved his spoon at her dismissively. "He looks mean," he commented before stuffing another spoonful of porridge into his mouth. "Whatchu like 'bout 'im?" Calum mumbled unattractively around the food in his mouth.

Her nose wrinkled at her friend, not impressed that she had to defend her taste of men to him. "He's rugged, manly, intelligent," Katty listed, and then paused, her mind drifting back to last night. "Sexy, mysterious, rough."

Calum rolled his eyes, "Keep it in your pants, Casanova."

" _Really_ good kisser –"

"I get it."

"And it felt like he had a big –"

"Katty!" Calum interrupted. "Shut up," he said with a laugh that resembled a sharp bark.

"Cock."

"I hate you."

She shrugged and then grabbed her bowl to wash it in the sink, unconcerned with Calum's discomfort. "You asked. I answered. You're welcome," Katty explained simply with an exaggerated, extravagant flutter of her hand. She could feel him roll his eyes at her from behind her back.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So how long have you two been boning for?" he asked crudely, joining her at the sink.

"Haven't," she admitted, ignoring the raised eyebrows Calum sent her, seemingly in disbelief. "That was the first time we kissed, but we were both pissed, he might not even remember it," Katty grumbled to herself. She had really fucked up. How was she supposed to be able to look him in the eyes ever again, never mind pretend that their moment on the veranda hadn't happened?

"Well, stop being a pussy and go find out," Calum jerked his head towards the door, indicating her to leave.

"No way," Katty disagreed immediately. "He'll probably bite my head off for jumping him like that."

Calum snorted loudly and then pulled Katty's hair away from her neck. "Looks like he's already tried," he said through a laugh, pressing his thumb on the bruise under Katty's ear.

She swatted Calum's hand away and tugged her brown hair forward again so it covered the light mark. Katty could feel a blush creeping up her neck as she tried to think of something to avert the conversation away.

"He's Merle's brother," Katty tried to say conversationally, ignoring the heat in her cheeks.

Calum guffawed, "You're _joking_. This just keeps getting better and better." The laugh turned to a sharp, girlish yelp when Katty wound up the dish towel and snapped it on Calum's arse.

"I just mean," Katty said pointedly as she turned back to the sink, "You got along really well with Merle, so you'll probably like Daryl. He doesn't talk much, but he's easier to like than his brother."

"You don't have to sell him to me," Calum said, shooting a bright grin Katty's way as he dried their dishes. "You had me at 'big cock'."

Katty laughed freely, shaking her head incredulously at Calum. Yesterday had honestly been the best day that Katty could remember having in a long time. After the overhaul of shit that had sprayed in their direction recently, it had been nice to have a series of fortunate events to balance it out.

She just wasn't sure if having Daryl's tongue down her throat was a fortunate event yet.

"What was up with that girl yesterday?" Katty asked suddenly, switching gears. The woman's frowning face jumped out in her mind. She had seemed to dislike Katty immediately, eyeing her up and down distastefully like Katty had been trying to steal her boyfriend or something.

"Annie is – uh – complicated," Calum awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and slightly wrinkled his nose. Katty's lips twitched into a smile.

"Meaning you're shagging and that was her being jealous."

"Well – yeah," he shrugged as if she had just asked him a pointless, obvious question. "I re-explained who you were again to Annie, so hopefully she'll be nicer," Calum didn't sound too concerned with the woman's animosity towards Katty.

Katty snorted. She doubted that. Living in California, she hadn't been a stranger to catty, jealous women. Katty also wasn't blind to the fact that she was conventionally attractive and that she had certain features that made her stick out in a crowd to the opposite sex. She wouldn't consider herself to be manipulative _per say_ , but Katty couldn't lie and say that she hadn't used her looks to get her way before. A bigger tip when she was a server, flirting with a professor or two to scrounge a passing grade in uni. One of the last jobs she had was solely based on appearances, in fact.

"Don't worry, I can handle it," Katty affirmed, thinking that out of everything in this world, nothing would feel more normal to her than a catty woman.

"She's harmless," Calum waved it off. "Daryl, however, looked like he was going to murder me yesterday," he cast a weary look to Katty, who smiled at the mention of the redneck.

"He's not so harmless," the look Calum shot her was withering. Katty laughed again, "He probably won't do anything, but try not to piss him off."

The scornful look disappeared and a wide-eyed, innocent expression appeared in it's place. "What would _I_ ever do to piss anyone off?"

"Michonne said you called Rick 'big boy' yesterday."

"I was being charming," Calum exclaimed dramatically, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well they want you to charm their pants off some more," Katty replied, remembering that Carol and a few others had mentioned that Katty should bring Calum by sometime today. She figured that they, namely Carol, had questions for Calum, particularly about his mother's involvement at the CDC in Atlanta. Katty considered warning Calum that it would be an interview about Biters and the virus, but she refrained from doing so. Calum had never liked talking about the virus, especially since Woodbury. She chewed her lip, hoping that her friend would get over the guilt he felt.

"They want to meet you officially, I think," she clarified at his curious expression. Calum's trademark grin slid onto his face, and Katty could feel herself smiling back at him in spite of herself. His smile was like an infectious disease; one that she couldn't help but mimic.

"Well, let's not keep my audience waiting."

It was like a dream to have him back with her.

* * *

Daryl wanted to slap himself. He was _nervous_ , scared of a fuckin' girl. Kat had always made him feel somewhat uncomfortable; she smiled at him entirely too often, she didn't seem to be affected when he was borderline rude to her, and Kat was, as much as he hated to remind himself, fucking gorgeous. But, then again, a lot of people made him feel uncomfortable. However, Daryl Dixon was never _nervous_. His palms were sweaty, and Daryl kept trying to casually wipe his hands on his pants. He knew he was fidgeting, and it was definitely obvious by the looks that he was receiving from the other members of his group.

Carol kept sending confused, concerned glances his way; his energy was thick with tension, radiating off him like the summer heat. Carol, he could ignore. Daryl knew she would goad and prod him about it later, but he could at least pretend she wasn't looking at him until he could make a quick escape at the end. Glenn, however, Daryl had the urge to throttle.

Daryl liked Glenn. Glenn's face and the stupid fucking knowing smirk on his face, not so much. He resisted glaring at Maggie, who was situated near Glenn, as usual. It was obvious that Kat had said something to Maggie, or the farmer's daughter had at least realized what had transpired between the two on the bench last night. Probably a combination of the two; Kat was different, or so he liked to think, but she was still a female. And even though Daryl had limited knowledge of women, he knew that they loved to gossip.

He winced as he thought of what had happened last night. He had been drunk, and his inhibitions had waned enough that he broke and ended up grabbing Kat and assaulting her with his mouth. When he had realized in the moment what was happening, it had already been too late. Kat was entirely too close and too warm and felt too good against him – on top of him. The noises she had made and the motions that had sent her centre grinding on top of Daryl, even now, sent the blood rushing downwards.

Daryl changed his mind about resisting glaring at Maggie and sent a scowl her way. If she hadn't of interrupted, in the next few minutes Daryl would have hauled Kat over his shoulder to take her somewhere – anywhere – to finish what they had started.

Daryl paused. Maybe it had been a good thing that Maggie had interrupted. That would have ended up being a shitty situation.

One thing was for sure: He could definitely never let his guard down like that again. There's no way that it would end well for either of them.

Daryl wondered briefly if Kat was going to pretend like nothing happened, or even remember the event. She had been pretty hammered. So had he, but Daryl had never had a problem with blacking out while drinking before.

He gripped his knee tighter when Daryl realized that he was bouncing it in a nervous tick. Rick had mentioned that Kat and _Calum_ would be making an appearance at the main house. Carol had also not failed to inform them a while back what Kat had said about Calum and his involvement at the CDC in Atlanta.

What started the virus didn't fuckin' matter anymore; after hearing from Jenner that there wasn't any chance of a vaccine, Daryl stopped caring about any details surrounding the cause of the end of the world. But he couldn't say that he wasn't the least bit curious about what the retard knew about it. He hadn't seemed like an intellectual and Daryl didn't understand what the kid's involvement was at the CDC.

There was a part of him, and Daryl cringed to admit it to himself, that knew he was using his 'curiosity' as an excuse. He wanted to see Kat and Calum together, to make sure that she hadn't been lying to him last night when she said he wasn't her type. It was morbid really, waiting for the confirmation.

Another, moody portion of him was angry that he lost his purpose once again in Alexandria, now that he and Aaron weren't to scout for more people. He was looking for ways to distract himself that didn't involve offering the help the construction crew or fucking around with the bike uselessly for the nineteenth time.

Daryl was so on edge, he almost jumped when the door swung open, with Kat and Calum waltzing through. If he had been anyone else, he would have jumped.

Maggie and Glenn immediately got up to introduce themselves to the man, even though Glenn had briefly seen Calum the other day, and Daryl found himself scowling at Calum again. It felt like a routine at this point. The younger man let a wide, childish grin slide across his face and he roughed his stupid hair up before clasping hands with Glenn and then Maggie. Daryl smirked slightly when Kat slapped Calum's hand away from mussing up with hair, but ducked his gaze away when she looked over to him.

"Judith!" Kat cooed immediately, and walked to where Rick was seated with the baby in his lap, bouncing slightly. The second that the girl gurgled and reached her arms towards Kat, Rick held Judith out towards Kat with an amused look.

Watching Kat bounce Judith on one hip while she greeted Carol set off a weird, primal feeling in Daryl, and he chewed the side of his thumb to erase the sense from his mind. She wasn't his wife, his woman, she wasn't his _anything_ at all, and he could feel himself becoming irritated with his own brain.

Daryl felt someone watching him, and glanced to find Calum staring at him, a slight smirk on his face. Normally, he would consider the change in expression a breath of fresh air compared to the normal Cheshire grin the man wore, but the knowing smirk somehow still pissed Daryl off even more.

"Hey, Daryl," a British accent murmured, and all the muscles in his body tensed when Kat's hand brushed on his shoulder in greeting. His dick twitched when he recalled how Kat had murmured his name _very differently_ last night, and Daryl averted his eyes from what he assumed was her weird, mismatched ones boring into his.

He grunted something that resembled a, "Hey," and picked at his fingernails. Daryl cringed to himself. So fucking casual, he scolded sarcastically.

Maybe it would be better to pretend like they hadn't sucked face last night, and Kat would do the same. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Daryl's internal dialogue distracted him from the rest of the room, until Carol caught his attention.

"I know it isn't the most appropriate conversation," she started, and Daryl watched as she adjusted her homemaker's sweater. It was still bizarre to him, seeing Carol play the submissive housewife role. "But Katty mentioned before that you were at the CDC in Atlanta before everything?"

* * *

He remembered. There was no way he didn't.

Katty could feel the awkward, sexual tension as soon as she walked in and felt his eyes on her. And she knew Daryl well enough that he was probably going to ignore her until he thought she'd gotten over last night or just pretend it never happened. The man oozed sex appeal, at least to her, but social skills, he had not. It was both charming and infuriating.

She watched him as Daryl and Calum had an odd standoff, one glaring, one smirking, and Katty felt her own lips tug up into a smile. She wasn't accustomed to men playing hard to get with her. She bounced Judith on her hip and made a decision.

Katty was going to make sure he remembered.

" – – Katty mentioned before that you were at the CDC in Atlanta before everything?"

Her one track mind switched gears and Katty's attention flew to her friend. Calum looked startled, but it quickly faded away to one that looked in between slight frustration and fatigue. He was tired. Katty knew that, and she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as she waited for him to respond.

His Adams apple bobbed in his throat slightly before Calum responded, a dismissive tone to his voice, "The CDC is long gone by now, the generators would have only lasted – "

"We were there when it blew up," Glenn interrupted, "Jenner let us out before," he trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence.

Calum's eyebrows raised, "So he did stay 'til the end then," he hummed a noise in his throat that sounded moderately impressed. "More than anyone else could say."

"He stayed for his wife," Carol added, watching Calum carefully. Katty wondered if she was trying to gauge the extent of Calum's involvement and the reliability of his information.

"Candace," Calum concurred. "Probably one of the best minds we had working on Project Wildfire. My mom, along with a lot of others, left after she was infected; lost hope, I suppose." He finished disinterestedly with a slight shrug. Katty knew it was a defense mechanism; Calum's mother had died shortly after they had left. The memory was surely flickering behind his eyes at the mention of the CDC.

"Katty mentioned your mother worked in the etiology of the virus," Carol stated conversationally, but Katty could hear the underlying urge for information in her voice.

Calum could too, apparently. He sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. "What are you all actually getting at here? This obviously isn't just a friendly little welcoming party," he drawled sarcastically.

"Details, answers, anything," Maggie answered evenly when no one responded right away.

Calum looked at Katty for a moment, one that felt like an eternity, while she assumed that he tried to figure out how much they knew about her exactly. She wanted to shake her head at Calum, but figured that the group would be watching the two of them closely, and confined herself to what she hoped was an unreadable expression.

The dark haired man turned his sights back to Maggie, before he flickered over the other individuals in the room. "You want to know about Project Wildfire?" he asked testily, though the question sounded more like a statement, and asked for no confirmation.

"What does it matter anymore?" Calum's brow furrowed, as if the question irritated him, which it probably did.

"Calum," Katty decided to interrupt what was surely going to be a pointless back and forth between the group and Calum. "They have the right to know, they live here too," she explained softly.

Calum's lips twisted at her words. "Right to know, huh?" her heart picked up speed at the look that Calum shot her. They had talked extensively last night about the members of Rick's group, and Calum had asked her, after she retold Noah's story, if she planned on telling them about her immunity. Katty, still a coward, didn't have an answer for him. "I agree, _Katty_."

She attempted to cover her discomfort with a smile, but knew that it ended up looking more like a grimace.

"There's no cure," he said bluntly, addressing the lot of them once more. "There never was, never will be. At least not from anywhere in North America."

Glenn's brow creased. "Why North America?"

"Canada was just as bad as the States before it went dark. Europe was more sheltered from the virus, the first few incidents that appeared over there were actually from American and Canadian tourists. There was even some stupid theory that the virus's efficacy had to do with the hosts exposure to pesticides, preservatives and GMO's, which were a lot more rampant in North America," Calum rolled his eyes. "It was just a pathetic scare tactic, really."

Katty remembered the messages on the news. After they stopped blaming a derivative of bath salts or some other substance, the media had turned to what touched their food. That was one of the last theories that she had heard on television, the day before she had gotten on a plane to Florida.

"So it ain't some messed up form of mad cow disease?" Daryl asked, and Katty was surprised at his contribution. Daryl always appeared disinterested, but it seemed that he was as curious as the rest of them. She looked at him briefly, and noticed that he still wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Might be, actually," Calum said lightly to the other man. "Some thought that it was a misfolded protein similar to the prion disorder that caused Mad Cow. But prions don't contain genetic material like virus' do, and prions are typically fatal. There's a chance at survival with virus'." Calum paused to stretch where he was standing and then shrugged at everyone. "There's no real answer, what caused the wildfire; it might as well be a fucked up fairytale."

Katty had heard all of this before from Calum, but it still made her stomach churn to listen to once again. It sounded so hopeless. How could you fight something without knowing where it came from?

"Can I hold her?" Calum asked suddenly, and turned to Rick to ask for permission. The older man just nodded once, a thoughtful look on his face. Katty couldn't blame him. So far, Calum hadn't given them any solid answers. She figured that he wouldn't, unless they asked the right questions.

A smile broke across Calum's face as he took Judith from Katty and started to make nonsensical noises at her, bouncing and playing with her. Judith's giggles were an odd, hopeful sound in a room that otherwise felt gloomy.

"There ain't any chance of survival with this virus though, so couldn't it be a prion?" Maggie pointed out, her face slightly pinched and eyes searching Calum's.

Katty tried to keep her breathing regular and quickly stuffed her hands into her pockets when she noticed that they had started to tremble. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Calum's eyes flicked for the briefest of moments towards Katty before he sent a smile Maggie's way.

"That's where you're wrong."

The somber expressions around the room changed immediately, varying from shocked to confused and everything in between. Katty missed them all, however, considering that her gaze was locked to her feet, suddenly fascinated by the ratty Timberland boots.

"Jenner said that everyone's infected," Rick stated lowly. Calum nodded in response.

"Yup," he popped and Judith giggled at the noise. He glanced down at her with a grin before continuing. "I prefer the theory that there's two strains from one virus. First one, that everyone is infected with, your immune system can fight off until you're dead. The second strain comes from a lethal bacterial that they give off from a bite or scratch. It exponentially multiples and makes you become septic. It disrupts the clotting cascade, meaning you bleed out, and fucks with your inflammatory response, which causes the fever." He looked around the room at the serious faces and then shrugged. "That's just what my mom and me thought, though."

"So when you said that people survive, you just were referring to the fact that everyone is infected," Glenn concluded.

"Nope, there's been cases of survivors." Katty didn't miss the sidelong glance he sent to her. She bristled uncomfortably, annoyed that Calum had decided to play this game with her again. She knew that the people at Alexandria were different from Woodbury, but her anxiety spiked at the similarities that prevented her from revealing the truth. Calum hadn't said whether or not telling the group would be a good idea last night when they talked. He had expressed his anxieties about it, but agreed that these people weren't Woodbury – weren't the Governor.

"Over in France, there was a man that got bit early into it. He was afebrile the entire time, but they couldn't figure out how to stop the bleeding. Had a continuous infusion of blood products while they tried to work on a cure."

"What happened to him?" Carol asked quickly.

"Died due to complications from experimentation," Calum stated darkly. A shiver ripped up Katty's spine at his words. "France went dark shortly after. It was unclear if it was because the man was exposed so early on that the bacteria hadn't had time to become truly lethal, or if he just had a wicked immune system. Maybe there's just somethin' in the water over there," the joke didn't land with anyone, and the room was quiet for a minute as Calum bounced Judith some more.

"What about here?" Rick broke the silence, "Have there been any survivors here?"

The scratch on her arm and the old bite on her hip throbbed dully at Rick's question. Katty resisted rubbing the marks, or moving at all really, and tried to look casual as she inclined her attention back to Calum.

He had been silent for a moment, and Katty wondered if he was giving her a chance to decide if she wanted to tell them. When she remained soundless, Calum answered. "Every now and then, before we left and after Atlanta had been napalmed, someone would approach the CDC. Claim that they had been bit or scratched couple o' days back and were asymptomatic." He shuffled uncomfortably and switched his grip on Judith.

"First three were gunned down immediately, everyone was too panicked, too scared about what was happening. In hindsight, they could have truly been immune. Last person that claimed that, we brought in to study. Turns out that they weren't, their genetic material had just altered and been able to fight off the virus for an extra extended period of time before showing symptoms."

"That was how Candace Jenner got infected," Calum concluded grimly.

Katty _hated_ this information. It always made her wonder if that was _her_ story, that one day if she was feeling ill and her immune system was lower than usual, maybe her body wouldn't be able to fight off the virus and she, too, would become a Biter. Her stomach churned and Katty felt nauseous.

"It's not all sad stories and broken families, though," Calum added in a different, lighter voice. "The human race has always adapted to it's surroundings. There's a possibility when we consider how exposed we are to the virus, that we will adapt to beat it."

"Virus' mutate too, though," Glenn pointed out, though the look on his face stated that he wished he hadn't.

"Yeah, there's that, too," he conceded. Calum shifted Judith's weight once more in his arm and then ran a hand over her head, smoothing her curls. "There's a strong possibility that any child conceived after the spread of Project Wildfire is immune as well," he murmured, and Katty saw everyone snap to attention at the information. "Prenatal exposure and all that." He sniffed. "Not that it's worth the risk to find out," Calum added drearily, and passed Judith back to Rick when she started becoming fussy.

"No, it's not," Rick concluded in agreement, and the conversation seemed to end at that. He got up and disappeared down the hallway with Judith, assumedly to put her down for a nap.

"Thank you," Maggie said quietly to Calum, who roughly shoved a hand through his hair and shrugged in response.

"Don't need thanks for it. Not like I had any answers for y'all." He dismissed her appreciation, and then turned to Katty. "I'm goin' to talk to Rick for a minute, I'll find you after," he reached out and squeezed her shoulder firmly before retreating down the hall that Rick had walked down.

"Had you heard all that before?" Glenn suddenly asked Katty, appearing at her side. She paused, and then nodded.

"Yeah, he's mentioned it," she admitted, brushing her long hair over her shoulder. She saw Daryl get up from his position, leant against the wall, out of her peripheral. Katty felt the urge to follow him and shifted in her spot.

"What do you think of it all?" Maggie prompted her.

She chewed her lip. "I think that answers are sometimes scarier than the unknown." The door shut lightly, and she turned to see that the redneck had left once again. "Sorry, I – uh – have to go do something," she interrupted lamely, and the couple, simultaneously, glanced towards the door before turning back to Katty with matching, knowing smirks.

"Right," Maggie drawled at her. "Good luck." Katty felt her face heat up as she ducked away from them and followed Daryl out the door.

She wasn't sure why she felt the need to follow him; maybe she needed a distraction, maybe she needed a reminder that she was alive and wasn't going to become a Biter, maybe she was just pathetically infatuated with the man and craved his presence.

Walking out to an empty porch, Katty felt her spirits sink. He had definitely left to get away from her, not just go out for a cigarette, or else Daryl would have been here, in the usual place. She supposed that she got her answer. He regretted what had happened between them, obviously.

Like she said, answers were sometimes scarier than the unknown.

* * *

Daryl had seen the looks that Calum had sent Katty's way when he was talking about the virus. He didn't understand it, wasn't sure why, what the point was, or what the message was behind the sidelong glances, no matter how short they seemed, but it unsettled Daryl to his core. There was definitely more to the story, Daryl just wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find the answer out yet.

Daryl watched from his position, standing in the grass of the walkway between the two homes. Watched Kat interestedly as her eyes roamed around, presumably looking for him. Daryl still wasn't sure if she remembered, but he was starting to assume that she didn't, considering that she still wanted to talk to him.

He shook his head to himself. It didn't matter either way, because he wasn't going to let it happen again.

"Ya followin' me?" he asked gruffly before he could stop himself, and watched in amusement as Kat jumped and whirled around to face him. He met her eyes for the first time that day and tried to gauge what exactly she had come after him for.

"Is it that obvious?" Kat joked as she walked down the steps and towards him, once she realized that Daryl wasn't going to move from his position against the siding of the house.

Daryl just grunted in response to her, and resisted frowning when Kat smiled at him in response. It didn't matter what shitty reply or lack of response he gave her, she never seemed deterred from it.

"Yer boyfriend seems ta know a lot," he stated lowly, his hands unconsciously flexing and releasing in the pockets of his vest. Daryl wasn't sure why he said it, she had already told him that they weren't together. It was probably the petty side of him, wanting Kat to confirm it again.

Daryl scowled to himself. He really was a damn girl.

Kat rolled her eyes at him, though it seemed more good natured than annoyed. "I told you last night, he's not – "

Daryl didn't understand immediately why she had cut herself off. After a short moment, he realized that she had just brought up last night and that she remembered saying that. They hadn't made out more than a few minutes after she had said that last night.

Kat licked her lips subconsciously before she tugged her lower one in between her teeth. It was a nervous habit, but Daryl's mind immediately went to the memory of her tugging at his lip. His jaw clenched as he watched her, and got a strange satisfaction at how uncomfortable Kat looked. It was a change from how their roles usually went, and Daryl felt himself want to relish in the moment.

"Finish yer sentence; what happened last night?" he found himself asking, Daryl's voice more gravelly than usual. He took pleasure in the fact that he could see the slightest shiver run up Kat's body.

"I told you that Calum isn't my boyfriend," Kat answered when she found her voice, and Daryl couldn't keep the smirk off his face, both at her response and at the breathy tone of Kat's voice. It almost seemed submissive, though he knew she wasn't, but it set off another primal urge within him.

"That all that happened last night?" When he couldn't meet her eyes before, Daryl couldn't look away from Kat now. He wasn't sure if he wanted an answer to that question, or if he just wanted to see how much he could make her squirm.

"No," she responded quietly, and Daryl eyed her suspiciously when he noticed that Kat was a lot closer than she was a few minutes ago. When had she moved?

When her arm brushed his, it was like the bubble, filled with tension and uncertainty, popped. Daryl took a step back and regained his composure. He had told himself that it wouldn't happen again, and he was going to make sure of it. Even if she'd be pissed at him over it.

"Don't matter neither way. It ain't happenin' again, ya get it?" he asked roughly, and looked away from Kat as soon as he saw her eye widen. Daryl wasn't about to stick around to either have her yell at him, or cry, or whatever else women did when he was rude to them.

Daryl turned and started to walk away with the intent of avoiding Kat for the next few days, or as long as he possibly could until both of them got over whatever the fuck had happened last night. His ears perked when he heard her let out a breathy laugh. What the hell?

He paused momentarily, the urge to look back over at her peaking his interest, before he felt her hand roughly encase his shoulder and turn him around before he could decide.

Kat's hands immediately went to Daryl's face, and she brought his head down with a jerk, towards hers. Their teeth clashed together, the feeling reverberating through them, though Daryl ignored it for the time being. His mind was whirling, buzzing as he tried to figure out what he should do. Their lips disconnected briefly before she tugged him back towards herself a second time, taking a step forward and leaning into him, pressing Daryl's body into the siding of the house. His mind went blank, the only thing he could focus on was the feeling of her soft body slanted against his, and Daryl gave into Kat once more.

It wasn't as frantic, as rushed as last night, and Kat slowly trailed her hand down his arm, taking his hand and placing it on her hip. Daryl cursed himself at how hesitant he was; he didn't know what she wanted or what he should do, so his hand just stayed at her hip, unmoving. She seemed to sense his discomfort, and pulled away once move, enough to look at him. Kat was still so close that Daryl had to blink twice for her face to get in focus for him.

"Relax," she murmured at him, her accent twirling and lilting in a way that made him swallow thickly. One of her hands moved and scratched at the scruff on his face, while the other slid behind his neck and lightly tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck.

"We're friends, right?"

Her words made him scoff, the unexpected noise making Kat jump slightly. What a fuckin' stupid question, Daryl thought. He may not be a people person, but Daryl had definitely had friends before. Daryl wasn't sure what type of friends Kat had, back before everything, in California, but he didn't like the idea of Kat doing this with all her 'friends'.

The question had made all the uncertainty and doubt vanish from Daryl, and his hands gripped her hips roughly as he took a step and twisted their bodies so that now Kat was being pressed into the side of the house. The shocked, excited look that he received in return from the smaller female was enough to make his lip curl into a smirk.

"Nah. Friends ain't do this shit," he replied gruffly and then leaned down, kissing her almost bruisingly hard. Kat let out a noise that resembled a mewl when he pressed his leg firmly between her own, grinding it against her. Daryl's hand left Kat's hip to grab her jaw, pinching lightly as his tongue demanded entrance to her mouth. She complied and allowed his dominance, twisting her own with his as she mimicked the motion with her hips against his.

A growl left Daryl's throat and he slid his hands back down to her hips, and then curled around to her ass. "Jump," he ordered as soon as he ripped his mouth away from hers once more. Kat's brows furrowed, and then she squeaked girlishly when Daryl lost patience and hoisted her up by his own accord. He let out a bark of laughter at the surprised look on Kat's face, clear as day to him now that she was eye level with Daryl.

They were pressed together more solidly now, and Daryl could feel his own chest heaving against Kat's. She was watching him unabashedly, eyes tracing over every aspect of his face and it made Daryl suddenly self-conscious.

"You're right," she murmured at him, lowering her voice since they were in such a close proximity with each other. His brows furrowed. What?

" _Friends ain't do this shit_ ," she parroted back to him in a replica of his southern twang. Daryl snorted.

"Fuck did I tell ya 'bout the voice, Kat?"

Kat laughed loudly, tipping her head back as she did. The laugh slipped into another mewl as Daryl attached his lips to her neck. He didn't miss the appearance of the light bruise that had been left, a reminder of last night. He scoffed to himself as he continued down the column of her throat and the front of her chest. Of course she would remember after seeing that.

At least he had his answer now.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Please take the virus stuff with a grain of salt; it was really just me having fun with it since the show refuses to theorize anything. I'm not a science major by any means, all that crap up there was just high school biology stuff and quick google searches haha.

And I appreciate the couple people that mentioned they wanted an AU where Katty and Tyler join the group at the quarry. Thank you so much for the suggestion, but as of right now I have no plans to do that. I'd have to map out the plot for a long time before I would even consider it, I think.

Feel free to leave a review! I would really appreciate it!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: "Have you ever had to put anyone down before?"_


	18. Nightmares

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Oh my god, that premiere, right? No spoilers, but holy shit. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I thought they handled an iconic scene nicely.**

 **Boop boop boop, I don't really have anything else to say other than thanks to everyone new that has added this to any of your alerts, and a special thanks to everyone that reviewed since last chapter;** **Guest** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **.2016** **,** **Natalie** **, Biasoul,** **jomoisbae81** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **norcalpc** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **sweetlilac** **,** **Jean** **,** **JenTen** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **suzzie** **,** **KuteKati1989** **,** **I'm a Nerd and Proud** **, and** **Bactrian Camel** **.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Nightmares

She always knew when she was dreaming.

Time didn't matter in the apocalypse. Only the amount of daylight you had left was relevant anymore. But in a room, that stole that, that took that sense away from you, Katty had found herself wondering what time it was often enough to consider whether the soft ticking that she heard had been a fabrication of her own mind.

She always knew she was dreaming when she heard the _tick tock_.

The room mocked her, in a way. There were trivial things like vinyl record players and fake potted flowers; Katty supposed that his guilty conscience was seeping through and the misguided man wanted to make it appear like she was a guest, rather than a prisoner. She snorted to herself. As long as it made _him_ feel better.

It was dark, and dull, and hopeless, with shitty knickknacks that glared at her, taunted that even though they were the only tangible items in the room, Katty would never be able to reach them. She was always trapped, locked down into a chair, her arms bound tightly to either side.

Other aspects were never the same. Sometimes there were faceless people in the room, murmuring to each other. Katty wondered if these were real conversations that she had heard at some point, but was too mindless to properly retain. Sometimes she was alone, and the nightmare would just be echoes of nothing, _over and over_ _again_ , with the only accompanying melody was the sound of her own breathing, her own blinking.

More often than naught, there were Biters. Hissing, snapping, growling in the dark, just out of sight, but not out of mind. Chains clinked, and Katty always fucking _hated_ that they matched her own. Her legs would sting, and when she looked down, there would be small sections of skin gouged out of her, blood freely flowing down her legs and settling on the ground.

Katty's nightmares were never action packed. The physiological response she felt didn't match the content of the dream, really. There was nothing chasing her ever, no one shooting at her or screaming at her, no one dying. But she would wake up, sweating, sobbing, shaking.

It was the sensory memory; Katty knew she wasn't inside the room again but, then again, she didn't _really_ know. The fear and panic came from the sensory memory, the muscle memory, the one that told her the cramping in her limbs and the numb feeling in her wrists _could be_ real, even if it wasn't. But, no matter what was around her, when Katty heard that damned ticking, she knew she was dreaming.

And the foot steps.

After a while, whether it was faceless people, Biters, or absolutely nothing, the foot steps would come. Each like a clap of thunder, reverberating through her chest and spiking her heartrate.

Through all the inconsistencies in her nights, it always ended with a short, polite knock on the door.

" _You are so valuable to this community."_

* * *

Katty swore under her breath as she tripped over a fallen branch, more than just a bit distracted this morning. She had taken up running again as soon as the nightmares returned. Katty would now often wake up with an overabundance of adrenaline coursing through her veins, and no outlet for it.

She tried not to feel bad that Calum was often there when she woke up. He was never angry when she would wake him up with her whimpering, forcing him to walk to her room and prod her into consciousness. Katty refused to tell him that the nightmares didn't come back until Calum had re-entered her life. He already felt guilty enough without her adding to it. Calum was also the one to suggest she start running again. He reasoned that if she was tired, she'd sleep better.

Okay, that was a lie; he had tried to lighten the mood by reminding her a perfect way to 'blow off steam' would be to fuck Daryl. And when she had tried to smother Calum with a pillow, he had coincidentally thought of an alternative.

Using Daryl to 'blow off steam' was not a viable option in the slightest. The man had been purposefully avoiding her for a few days now, and Katty was tired enough that she didn't quite care to pull him by the hair and force him to stop moping – pouting – whatever he was doing. She'd deal with it later. Katty could handle Daryl's moods; that didn't bother her. But on the other hand, dealing with the possibility that he simply didn't want anything to do with her anymore, that was something that Katty didn't think she could stomach currently.

She may have fucked everything up. Looking back on the last two nights, she had been the one to throw herself at him. He hadn't initiated anything between them, just gone along with it. Katty frowned to herself and rubbed at her temples. She was too tired for this shit.

Katty tripped over something else on the forest floor, and swore again, louder this time. She was walking back, cooling down after her run around the perimeter of Alexandria, basically just killing time until she had to go back and interact with people.

Her breath caught in her throat when a Biter ambled lazily from behind a tree, a groan sounding through the air as it moved. It was shirtless and appeared to be made entirely of ribcage; the emaciated form twisting towards her at her surprised noise.

The undead was within ten feet of her, and Katty started to move her hand towards the machete at her hip, waiting for it to stumble towards her some more. The wideset, unseeing eyes seemed to look through Katty, and it sniffed the air briefly before it turned away, disinterested by her appearance in front of him.

She didn't move as she watched it leave, her throat dry and her lower lip pinched between her teeth. Katty never understood why they normally didn't bother her. Surely she smelt entirely human and _alive_ , compared to other Biters. Calum and her had tried to theorize the answer to that question, but that's all it ever was; theory. Guessing. Maybe her scent changed when she got bit, and it helped mask her. Maybe they never truly noticed her to begin with; after all, the time that she had gotten bitten with Tyler, she had been clinging to him. Calum guessed that it had confused her scent for his. She knew it was important, but Katty tried not to think about it.

She knew her luck would run out one day.

"What the hell was that?"

Katty whipped around at the demanding, feminine voice, to find Enid. The teenager was staring at her, and Katty's heartrate sped up at the accusing look on her face. She wasn't entirely sure how long the girl had been standing there, but Katty couldn't trick herself into believing that Enid hadn't seen the Biter ignore her.

Katty tried to keep a passive look on her face, and arched an eyebrow at her in return. "What was what?" she hoped that if she didn't react to the question, Enid would drop it.

"It – I dunno," Enid's brow creased as she frowned at Katty. "It left," she concluded, sounding confused.

Katty forced her lips to twitch into a smile. "Well, they aren't the smartest, are they?"

Enid didn't look convinced. "No, that's not it," she said with a shake of her head. "It heard you, but it was like it didn't _see_ you."

Katty switched her expression to a serious one. It wasn't comforting that Enid was as stubborn as she was. "I'll tell you a secret, Enid." She waited until the girl came a few steps closer, her own expression mirroring Katty's.

"I'm a ghost."

She snorted unattractively at the immediate switch in expression on Enid's face. The drastic change from intensely focussed to exasperated was funny to her, though Enid didn't seem like she agreed.

"I know something's weird about you, even if you won't tell me," she snapped at her, crossing her arms across her chest. Katty rolled her eyes, and was about to reply with a sarcastic retort, when movement caught her eye once more.

"Are you two alright?" Carl's face popped out from behind another tree, his concerned eyes flickering between the two females. The sheriff's hat was in place on his head, and he quickly reached up to swipe some hair out of his eyes. Katty didn't miss how his eyes lingered on Enid a moment too long.

Her lip curled, amused. Ah, young love. "We're alright, Carl," she said sweetly, and then looked back towards Enid. "Drop it, or I'll tell Rick you two are eloping together in the forest." She joked.

The two other faces burst with color, Enid frowning at her and Carl smiling.

"How about, you don't tell dad we're out here and I won't tell him that I saw you and Daryl making out," Carl replied, a grin breaking across his face when Katty's jaw dropped.

"You cheeky bugger," she spluttered, feeling her own face fill with color. "That's not – " Katty cut herself off to blow air harshly through her nose. There was no use denying it. "Deal," she agreed gruffly.

It felt like a short standoff, the two teenagers smirking at Katty, and her squirming. She decided that it was time to take her leave. "I'm going back. You two are a bad influence on me," Katty shook her finger at them both at she walked by, smiling when she heard them both snort with laughter.

When she had gotten a good distance away from them both, Katty rubbed at her still red cheeks somewhat roughly. Damn kids.

* * *

Over the past few days, Katty had volunteered to take the late watch in the lookout tower. There was often a woman named Sasha there, who was someone that had intimidated Katty. She had come across as intense and disinterested in any interaction with anyone past Rick's group. Katty had never been properly introduced to Sasha, though she knew her name, and assumed that Sasha had known hers. It was an uncomfortable situation, at the point where introductions were pointless, but it was rude to assume Sasha knew her name, wasn't it?

Lately, though, Sasha had a different energy around her. The woman was still tense and hypervigilant of her surrounds, but she seemed more approachable, and Katty was surprised to see Sasha cast a small, whisper of a smile her way when Katty appeared in the doorway of the tower. Katty had come with the intent to relieve Sasha of her watch shift, but hesitated at the sight of her.

"Hi, you're Sasha, right?" she tried to ask kindly. The woman's eyebrows rose briefly in recognition.

"Yeah, and you're Katty," she nodded to her as she collected her jacket from the ground. It wasn't a question, merely an observation.

"Yeah, I just don't think we've been properly introduced, so I thought I'd do that," Katty said, and inwardly cringed at the forced nature of her introduction. She wasn't good with people or talking or most social things. Katty never understood how she had made a living as a server before this.

"So what made you want the late watch?" Sasha asked bluntly, stretching her limbs as she stood up straight. "Everyone usually complains about this one."

Katty paused, and considered how to word her response. The last thing that she wanted was to whine and complain about nightmares, to appear weak to someone that she wasn't comfortable with. She considered that if she explained it lightly, Sasha would probably just brush it off. "I don't really like sleep that much nowadays," she said simply, ending with a dismissive shrug. Katty's eyes glued to the floor, trying to appear casual as she studied it. "Bit of a night owl lately, so I reckon I might as well make use of it. Stop staring at my ceiling."

When she looked back up at Sasha, Katty immediately took note of the level expression that the other woman had. It was understanding, empathic, but lacked any pity, luckily. "I've been there," she said softly with a nod. Katty wondered if that had anything to do with how unapproachable the woman had appeared to Katty.

Everyone had a story, she reminded herself. Katty could admit it to herself; she was often self absorbed and in her own head, worried about her own problems, her own secrets. The majority of people here, and definitely everyone in Rick's group, had been through tragedy in the short life of the apocalypse; it was ignorant to assume that she had it worse than _anyone_ else.

"Can I give you some advice?" Sasha asked when Katty remained silent. The expression on her face depicted that the advice was not likely about the night watch.

"Shoot."

"Don't use this," Sasha gestured to the tower around them, "to avoid it for too long. It doesn't go away. You work through it or it eats you."

Katty didn't smile or thank her for the advice. It unnerved her that Sasha hammered a nail through her head without much contemplation. Her neck suddenly felt stiff, and she merely nodded at the other woman before moving to the window and effectively switching places with her. Sasha bid her a short goodnight before Katty heard footsteps leading away. She scrunched her eyes shut tightly and tried not to think of the similarities between those footsteps and the ones in her dream.

Katty didn't want to work through it. She knew that they meant one of two options. Talking through and coming clean about everything, or leaving. Katty couldn't think of any other option.

She was reminded of the reason why she had avoided people for so long, avoided Alexandria and everything that it represented. When she was on her own, she didn't have enough time to properly sleep or think about anything other than her own survival. There was no room for contemplating her immunity, room to develop sleeping disorders or a conscience that led her to experience nightmares.

On her own, she didn't have to watch her back to make sure that no one noticed how Biters reacted to her, make sure no one noticed her scars. Katty shouldn't be alive and she knew that. She had too many encounters with Biters, should have died many times. And she definitely didn't have to worry about protecting anyone, worry about losing anyone.

Katty hadn't been in Alexandria that long, and had already lost people. She hoped that that wasn't a sign that all her other worries would come true. Enid was already suspicious. Surely other people were as well. Carol, who had asked her about the bandage on her arm after she had been scratched. Glenn, who had been there when she had actually been scratched. It was just a matter of time before someone figured it out.

Katty reconsidered whether she should leave, slip out at night when no one would notice. Her heart panged when she thought of Noah, and what she had promised him. Even if she never fulfilled that promise, Katty would surely owe it to him to work to keep his family safe. And Calum. She couldn't ask him to leave Alexandria, and Katty wasn't self assured that she could leave her friend, so soon after she had just gotten him back.

Katty tried not to add her crush on Daryl to the list of reasons she couldn't leave Alexandria.

Once again, she scrunched her eyes tightly together. She was supposed to be doing a job, Katty scolded herself. She situated herself in the chair facing outside the Alexandria walls, placing the rifle and the walkie talkie on the chair that was behind her, pointed the other way, without turning around.

She sighed to herself. How the hell was she every going to _work through it_?

* * *

Daryl frowned as her watched Kat from the doorway of the tower. He felt like a fuckin' creep, staring at her, trying not to make a sound as he contemplated what to do.

He had been avoiding her. Ignoring her. Daryl knew that Kat knew as well. He had been able to slip away whenever she came by the house, he hung around Aaron and Eric's house when he knew that Kat would be around for dinner or hanging around Maggie and Glenn. Daryl had been prepared to ignore her if he ever heard her call his name from afar, but luckily, over the past few days, he hadn't been in that situation yet.

He was pissed off. Mostly at himself, but also at Kat. Or that's how he tried to reason it so that he didn't feel like a complete pussy.

Kat shouldn't have ever kissed him. Either time. It complicated things, things that Daryl didn't want to deal with. She didn't like him. It was impossible. When he thought about who he was before everything and who she was, it made him snort. Kat was a goddamn model for Christ's sake. He rolled his eyes to himself.

At the end of the world, suddenly everyone respected rednecks.

She obviously just wanted him around to protect her. The woman had stupidly confused that with an actual yearning for his company. Daryl knew what women like Kat were. Manipulative bitches, like Merle would have said. His brow furrowed, immediately feeling guilty that he had thought about Kat like that.

Fuck. He scowled at Kat's back. He could even think anything mean about her without pussying out.

Daryl wasn't entirely sure why he had followed her up after Sasha had disappeared. Half of him considered telling her off once and for all, and being a fuckin' jackass to her 'til she never wanted to talk to him again.

He still kept tabs on Kat, even though he avoided her like the plague. Kat didn't seem to be sleeping. Sometimes she would go outside and sit on the porch of her house, staring at absolutely nothing. Once, he was walking around Alexandria in the middle of the night, not sleeping much himself, and heard her crying through the open window to her room. He had hovered around the area until he heard Calum come in, flicking on the light and waking Kat up.

Through the concern that Daryl had tried to bury, he had been sickly comforted by the fact that Kat wasn't sleeping in the same room as Calum.

Merle was probably rolling in his fuckin' grave, so to speak, at Daryl's thoughts lately. He'd have sucker punched him if he could.

Coming up had been a mistake, he shouldn't have followed her. Daryl had done a fine job of avoiding Kat, and she was bound to grow tired of him soon, if she hadn't already. Daryl took a small step back, and cringed when the floorboard of the watch tower creaked lightly.

He didn't have time to pray that Kat hadn't heard him, before she jumped and whirled around in her chair.

She didn't say anything at first, just blinked and stared at him, a mixture of confused and surprised that Daryl couldn't admit to himself how endearing he found.

"What're ya doin' out here?" he gruffed at her, desperate to end the silence and his impending embarrassment.

Kat blinked a few more times at him, and in the dim light that the lantern beside her provided, Daryl could see the discolored bags under her eyes. It confirmed his previous thought that she hadn't been sleeping well.

"I'm on watch, Daryl," Kat answered, sounding as tired as she looked. Daryl didn't like that there wasn't an amused sparkle in her mismatched eyes. A little voice in the back of his head wondered if him ignoring her had contributed to the cause. Surely he couldn't mean that much to her?

"Ain't what I mean," Daryl countered, narrowing his gaze on her eyes levelly. He often had trouble meeting her eyes, but didn't like Kat deflecting his question.

She studied him for another moment, before her eyes found the ground. Daryl frowned as he watched Kat take a breath and then turn back around in her seat so she was facing away from him again.

"Don't worry about it, Daryl," she said dully, her voice light and delivering an uncaring tone. Daryl could see through the farce immediately. "You're right."

He was reminded of another time when she said those words to him, a few days ago when he had her pressed against the siding of the house. The contrast in tone was unnerving.

"'Bout what?" Daryl found himself asking.

"It's not a good idea for us to continue – whatever _this_ is," Kat haphazardly motioned with a finger between herself and Daryl, still without turning around.

Daryl considered her words. He considered not saying anything, just walking away, agreeing with her. He _did_ agree with her. It wasn't a good idea, and it was about time that Kat admitted it as well.

But it pissed him off that the girl had the balls to act like they were breaking up when they weren't even together.

Daryl hated how conflicted she made him feel.

So he didn't let himself falter as he snorted out loud and crossed the room, moving the walkie talkie and the rifle off the chair facing away from Kat and sitting down.

"Please, join me," she drawled sarcastically from behind him. "It won't be awkward at all."

Daryl's lips turned up into a smirk at her words. The girl didn't have a filter sometimes.

"That why yer out here?" he asked instead of acknowledging her sarcasm.

Daryl immediately stiffened when Kat's head leaned back and rested on Daryl's upper back. When she spoke, it felt like it travelled through him and Daryl felt himself involuntarily gulp. Why did she have to touch him so often?

"Have you ever had to put anyone down before?"

Daryl couldn't tell if she was just trying to deflect again, or if she was telling him the reason why she had been taking the night watch. He immediately thought of Merle at the prompt, but wasn't entirely sure he wanted to share that with her.

"Th'hell kinda question is that?" he asked with a scoff, and wanted to move away from her, but found he couldn't.

Kat didn't seem to hear him, or was just use to his snark at this point and ignored it. "I killed my boyfriend."

Daryl resisted groaning, not liking where this conversation was headed. He didn't want Kat crying on his shoulder in the middle of the night, when he didn't have an escape route. He didn't do crying women.

Daryl pulled the battered pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and cupped his hand around it from the window in front of him as he lit it. He shrugged her with his shoulder and reached to hand it to her after he had taken a much-needed drag.

He felt her turn sideways in the chair as she took the smoke from him, her head still leant on his back.

"He got bit and I agreed to shoot him," she elaborated, though he hadn't asked. "I was going to shoot myself after, but then Calum showed up."

Daryl's muscles contracted once again, and his temper flared at the information. So that was what she meant before when she said the guy had saved her life countless times. He didn't like the mental image of Kat putting a gun to her head, even less of how close she had probably been to splattering the ground with fragments of skull.

He scoffed once more. "Didn't realize ya were that stupid," He didn't ask why she was going to kill herself; he didn't need to. Girl had probably thought she couldn't live without her boyfriend, wanted to end it. The question still itched in the back of his mind, why she would shoot herself over that when Kat had told him explicitly that she hadn't loved the poor sumbitch.

"Guess I'm full of surprises," she murmured in response. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the exhale of her breath drifting away from them. He took the cigarette back when she held it out to him, and pondered whether to further the conversation or not.

"Merle," he stated simply after a quiet pause between them as he sucked on the cigarette. He felt Kat freeze from behind him, and his eyes immediately glued themselves to the glowing end of the cigarette as he tried a failed not to remember the sight of his older brother as a Walker.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, the words coming out as a mumble as she turned her head towards him more.

Daryl expected the question, and paused to think of the shortest amount of words to explain what had happened. He remembered that Kat had known Merle, had mentioned that he had helped Kat before. She wasn't asking to be polite, her tone conveyed that she genuinely wanted to know.

"Guy named tha Governor killed 'im. I just got rid of a Walker," the Walker that day hadn't been his brother, or that's what he had told himself to get through it.

Daryl couldn't stop himself from flinching when he felt Kat shift in her seat and wrapped an arm around his neck in a crude hug.

"Damnit, why ya always touchin' me?" he snapped irritably at her, annoyed both at Kat and that his heart jumped in his chest.

Kat was speaking into the back of his neck now, her breath making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, "Neither Merle or you deserved that. He wasn't a bad guy."

Daryl shoved her arm away from around his neck. First, the girl was agreeing that they shouldn't keep sucking face whenever they saw each other, now she was hanging all over him. It was dizzying to try and figure out what was going on.

It also irritated him that Kat seemed to have such a high opinion of Merle. He couldn't see his brother like that, the group couldn't, so why the fuck could she? Kat just seemed ignorant to what Merle was truly like.

"Ya don't know shit," he brushed her off easily, swatting his hand at her as Kat moved away from him, leaning back in her chair.

"I know no one deserves that," she snapped back at him, but Daryl refused to turn to meet her eyes. He just shrugged and shook his head. He didn't like that she had opinions on his brother, one that he couldn't even see. Daryl felt entirely petty, but he wanted to ruin her crystal image of Merle.

"Had a kid – girl, yer age," he found himself saying, crushing the dead, glowing end of the cigarette into an old ash tray on the floor and pulling out another one. Daryl had never met the kid, Merle had just mentioned it one night when he was on a bender. Daryl had to do the math himself to figure out the kid's age. Needless to say, Merle hadn't supported the woman or the child. Too busy supporting his drug addiction.

"When all the shit went down, we left town pretty fast. Merle told me later that the kid 'nd her mom came ta him. The mom was scratched, and Merle basically told 'em ta fuck off. Laughed 'bout it ta me. Left his kid ta die."

Katty was silent for a stretch of time, and Daryl waited, twirling the second cigarette in between his fingers as he waited for Kat to say something. Complain, call Merle a piece of shit, take back her statement from before.

"I kind of figured as much," she said instead with a sigh, making Daryl turn in his seat to look at her.

"That he had a kid, at least," Kat clarified. "Mumbled some shit at me when he was drunk, called me something. Christie or something?" she quirked her head as she tried to recall the name.

"Wouldn't know," he muttered in response. Merle had never talked about either of them much past referring to the both of them collectively as a 'dumb fuckin mistake'.

"Yeah, well, he was always a bit more forgiving of me when I would piss him off. Looked at me sometimes like I wasn't me, you know?" Daryl didn't know, he hadn't seen Merle be forgiving of _anyone_ ever. Maybe Merle had grown a guilty conscience when he was forced to get clean, after they had lost each other.

They passed the second cigarette back and forth for a while, looking out their respective sides in a comfortable silence for a while. Daryl still felt conflicted about Katty, but liked that she didn't feel the need to incessantly run her mouth all the time.

"I don't want to go to sleep," Kat broke the silence, her head back to resting on his back. Daryl couldn't say he was alright with her hugging him, but he was starting to get use to her lack of boundaries between them.

Daryl snorted. "Didn't realize ya had a bedtime," he cheeked at her.

She elbowed him lightly, a breath of a laugh escaping her at the same time. "Nah, you muppet," Kat grabbed the cigarette from him gingerly once more. "That's why I'm out here; I don't want to sleep. Tired of nightmares," she said the last part in a smaller voice, twanged with embarrassment.

Daryl didn't know what to say. "Oh," he replied lamely. He never had nightmares. Didn't sleep soundly enough to dream at all, really. He knew that Michonne and Sasha often had nightmares, and that Glenn had mentioned once that Maggie still cried about Beth in her sleep sometimes. That explained why Kat looked so tired at least.

"Did you bury him?" she asked suddenly. Daryl realized that it was her way of changing the subject, probably uncomfortable with admitting that she had problems sleeping.

Daryl decided to humor Kat, and answered. "Nah. Ain't buryin' a Walker."

"Your lot buried the other people you lost, though?" she prodded further.

Blonde hair flashed through his mind, and Daryl scrunched his eyes shut to wipe the image from his brain. "Yeah, mostly," Daryl wasn't prepared to explain about Beth and how he couldn't save her, how close he had been. It wasn't Kat's business.

"Can you promise me something?" Kat was firing off questions faster than she had before, and Daryl wondered what had initiated the change.

His eyebrows raised. "Ain't promisin' anythin' 'til ya say what it is, Kat."

"If I get bit, or scratched, or anything," she paused, and Daryl braced himself. For her to ask to end it for her. Considering how she had ended it for her boyfriend when he had gotten bit, Daryl wasn't surprised that she was about to ask him.

"Just let me leave, forget about me."

The end to her request confused Daryl, not understanding why she would willingly stop other people from becoming Walkers, but not want it for herself.

"Ya went from wantin' ta kill yerself to wantin' ta be left alone?" he asked incredulously as Daryl tried to figure out her train of thought. The woman didn't make sense to him.

"Promise me," she reaffirmed, disregarding his clarification.

Daryl shrugged, "Sure," he replied, already deciding to himself that he would do everything he could to make sure she never got bit, scratched, hurt again in any way. Daryl had complained earlier that Kat was probably just using him for protection, but a sick part of him didn't mind being used by her.

They talked on and off most of the night, none of their topics carrying the somber note that their earlier conversation held. Daryl left in the early hours of the morning, before the next person came by to relieve Kat of her watch shift. He stretched the sore muscles of his back as he walked back to the house, intent to sleep a few hours before getting up for the day.

Daryl tried to wipe the picture of Kat as a Walker, of blonde, bloodied hair, and the undead face of his brother snapping at him from his mind as he practically fell into bed.

The last thing he needed was a nightmare.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! Shorter chapter, I know. I think you guys might like the next one, though. Hopefully I'll be able to get it out pretty quickly. I have a couple days off, so I'll at least be able to start it right away.

If Daryl seems kinda flip-floppy and inconsistent, know that that's on purpose ahha. At this point, I imagine he feels conflicted. I also realize I'm introducing Sasha pretty late in the game, I just couldn't really figure out a way to put her in that didn't seem forced and like I was just trying to name all the characters haha. There's a lot of people to keep track of, I don't know how the writers do it.

Don't forget to leave a review!

-Submechanophobia

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 _Next Time: The game of 'just friends' was old the moment she said it, and Katty wondered how long the lie would last._


	19. Tension

Heterochromia Iridum

 **I was going to be a jerk and wait for 200 reviews to put this one out, but decided to say fuck it and just put it out anyways. Everyone has been complete dolls and so lovely, so here you go! Haha, hope you enjoy.**

 **I'd like to thank** **Pompeii1224** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **I'm a Nerd and Proud** **,** **Marmar3230** **,** **Guest** **,** **m** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **MulishaMaiden** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **JenTen** **,** **Guest** **,** **Love Fiction 2016** **,** **Guest** **,** **suzzie** **,** **ghels** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **PadfootCc** **,** **Jean** **,** **Faelyght** **, and** **Guest** **for reviewing. I'm also almost past 300 follows; thanks to everyone new that's been reading this story. All of you are gems.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

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Chapter 19: Tension

Neither of them acknowledged out loud how quickly they had fallen into a routine.

Katty didn't comment on it. She knew, by the apprehensive look on his face the second night he had shown up, that if she teased him about it, it was likely that Daryl wouldn't return. And when they were alone, Daryl was good company.

It was almost like another world, a parallel universe, at night when they would talk. It must have been a mix between their combined exhaustion, and something about the night air calming their nerves and chipping at their resolve.

They talked, and it wasn't just Katty, uselessly babbling to fill a perceived awkward silence like usual. Daryl would tell his own stories, sometimes involving Merle, sometimes about his apocalypse family, sometimes, if Katty was lucky, he mentioned small things about his life before the end of the world.

Daryl laughed sometimes and listened when she talked, and she would have sworn he was actually interested in what she had to say. Her favourite moments came to be Daryl's snarky, quick witted comments.

They always made Katty laugh, even if he was rude at times. Daryl was sharp and funny, and she wished he would see himself that way. He had given up on explicitly disagreeing with her, but Katty could tell by the scoff, the shake of his head when Katty would compliment him about anything from his looks to his character, that he disagreed.

She wondered who had treated him so poorly that Daryl couldn't see what she saw.

Looking at him now, slung into a foldout chair, cigarette pinched between two fingers, his head tipped towards the quiet sky as smoke whispered and twisted out of his mouth, Katty thought he couldn't look more like poetry than in that moment.

"Quiet starin', ya creep," he muttered as he swiped a hand through his hair, not needing to look in Katty's direction to confirm that she had been watching him.

Katty reached a hand before her brain could catch up, tugging at his hair quickly before her hand scratched at Daryl's facial hair. She snorted when he batted her hand away, a disgruntled look on his face.

"Hair's gettin' long," she commented with a grin, attaching her hand to his hair again before being slapped away once more.

"Knock it off," he grumped at her, and Katty laughed airily, before she caught herself and stopped.

It was hard for her to tread the line of friends with Daryl. At times, it felt almost like a game. The game of 'just friends' was old the moment she had said it, and Katty wondered how long the lie would last.

When he had approached her in the tower that night, she had assumed he was there to tell her off, once and for all. Katty had been surprised when she had given him an out, cut their potential relationship off at the roots, when he had merely scoffed and sat down in the chair opposite her.

Daryl remained an enigma; a puzzle. These nights helped her piece him together, though she wasn't sure how long it would take. Katty wasn't opposed to the challenge.

Katty had opened up to him that night, though she was aware that Daryl hadn't understood the extent of which she had. She had never mentioned to anyone other than Calum about her contemplated suicide. Daryl's response had been expected, knowing how he was.

He hadn't asked her why she considered ending her life. Daryl had obviously assumed a reason, or just had decided that any reason she would supply wouldn't have been acceptable. Katty wasn't sure what she would have said if he had asked. Part of her wanted to believe that it was fate, that she wasn't meant to tell him what had really happened. Her stomach churned nervously, even now, as she thought about it.

Katty had no idea how Daryl would react if she told him. It wasn't a short story; she'd definitely be forced to tell every detail of her time in the apocalypse. Katty didn't think that she would be up to that. In all likelihood, she would have probably made up an answer that either indirectly lied about the event, or Katty would have spouted a shitty joke to deflect it.

Both options made her feel guilty; Daryl was someone that she was tired of lying to, even if it was indirectly. Both about her immunity as well as her feelings. But that's what she had to do to keep herself safe, as cowardly as it sounded.

"How's Aaron been? I haven't had much time to see him or Eric lately," Katty asked, stretching her arms above her head and arching her back. She didn't like doing the late watch at the front gate. It was colder and the seating was less comfortable than up in the tower.

Spencer was on watch in the tower currently. He was taking the deaths of Aiden and Reg rather hard, she could see it in the lines from stress and lack of sleep etching his face as of late. Katty was spending more time with Deanna during the day lately, which meant that she saw Spencer sometimes.

Their relationship was strained, Katty noticed it in the way that Deanna's posture and expression minutely changed when Spencer would clip words at her. Katty wished she could do something to fix it.

She still felt guilty that she wasn't able to stop Pete in time before he hurt anyone, and now Reg was dead. Mere days after they lost Aiden, it was understandable that their suddenly small family was threadbare.

Maggie, Deanna, and herself were planning all things agriculture. Compiling lists, suitability for each plot of land, and more importantly, the details of what would soon be a supply run. Mapping out what stores they knew in the area that carried what, the process took longer than what Katty was use to.

Typically, and granted, she had been on her own, she would just scope out a place for a day or two, making sure that she saw no human movement before she ventured inside. Katty stuck to the main, reliable establishments until they ran dry, and she'd move elsewhere. Deanna wanted to lay out a plan and solidify what exactly they needed before venturing outside the walls.

Needless to say, it left little time for visiting with Aaron and Eric.

Daryl shrugged, "Good as can be, suppose. Eric's glad ta have him here," Katty didn't miss the grumble or the irritated note that his voice carried.

Getting tired of the shitty foldout chair, Katty, ungraceful as always, clamored off it and onto the ground. Daryl cocked his head at her when she half crawled towards him and shoved his legs apart, situating her body in front of him, facing away. Her arms came up so her elbows rested on either of Daryl's knees.

Daryl let out a short laugh. "Yer like a stray cat that won't leave."

"Could say the same about you," she clipped back, unable to restrain the comment on Daryl's constant appearance while she was on watch. She felt him scoff, his annoyance seeping through, and shift with the intent to get up.

"Not allowed to move," Katty snapped, putting her weight on her elbows on top of his thighs, disabling Daryl from leaving in a huff. "You're my new chair."

He was silent for a while, but soon she felt his posture relax behind her as Daryl sunk back in the uncomfortable chair. Katty smiled to herself, glad that Daryl couldn't see the expression. He was usually a good sport about her teasing him, but whatever was between them was still off limits. She assumed that Daryl wasn't into feeling out of control, something that she knew well. So she tried to give him a break.

Plus, he made a good chair.

"And how about you?" she asked, remembering the point of her previous question. It was no secret that Daryl was just as tense, if not more so than Katty lately. Not going outside Alexandria for an extended period of time was difficult for the man. Which is probably why he frequently sat on watch with her, now that she thought of it. The more exhausted you were during the day, the less energy you had to mope around or think. And Daryl had certainly looked more fatigued, more tense as of late.

"What 'bout me?" he asked in return, stubbornly. Katty tipped her head back so that he could see that she had rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh please, have you seen yourself? You're like a caged dog around here since you and Aaron can't go out scouting."

And it was true. She could tell that he tried to keep busy, but it wasn't enough for the redneck. Daryl had practically grown up outside, in the woods, providing for himself long before the end of the world. It was a wonder that he hadn't left on his own without telling anyone. Katty supposed that, even if he didn't want to admit it, Daryl agreed with Rick that it wasn't safe for anyone to go out on their own.

Katty wasn't technically supposed to be running outside around the perimeter of Alexandria, she had to badger whoever was on watch at the time to let her out, claiming that she wouldn't wander too far from the walls. It wasn't true; she always ended up going through the woods as well, but they didn't need to know that. The same route got boring, Katty reasoned.

"Speak fer yerself," Daryl tugged a piece of Katty's hair, which sent a spark trailing from her head to her toes. "Ya either look exhausted, or like yer 'bout ta snap. Ya need ta blow off some steam."

It was near impossible to ignore the fact that Daryl had used the exact same phrase that Calum had when he suggested that Katty use Daryl to 'blow off some steam'. Close proximity definitely wasn't the best idea in this case, Katty decided. She knew she was squirming now, and twisted her outstretched legs together so that her thighs were clenched.

"We make quite the pair then; a stray cat and a caged dog," she joked lightly, trying to take her mind off how his hand had felt in her hair.

Daryl didn't laugh. His fingers strung through the hair at the nape of her neck, and he tugged Katty until her head tipped back and he could look at her face.

"Why are ya weird 'nd twitchy now?" he asked, leaning over her. Katty couldn't move for a minute, just staring at his face. His eyebrows were raised, a calculating expression gracing his features as Daryl looked down at her.

Katty decided that she liked the dark hues that the end of the night threw on him, making Daryl's features look more angular, sharp, more masculine.

"Not sleepin' still?" Daryl asked another short question when Katty didn't answer the last one. Her heart started to race when Daryl lifted a callused thumb to prod the dark circles under her eyes. He obviously thought that her squirming had been Katty trying to get comfortable or from the lack of sleep. If only he knew.

Her intrigued stare softened when his hand moved to her forehead. "Not gettin' sick, are ya? Sure as hell don't wanna take care of yer snifflin', whiney ass." The question and underlying concern touched her, even if it was laced through Daryl's farce of annoyance with her.

His tongue briefly swept out to wet his lips, and Katty was immediately distracted. Her neck started to hurt from the awkward, leant back position, but it was nothing now compared to the uncomfortable throb between her legs.

"Why aren'tcha talkin'?" He asked, Daryl's expression now amused with her silence.

"Cat got yer tongue?"

The smirk that crossed his face at his own joke, the one that allowed Katty to see a sliver of teeth, the one that he only used when they were alone at night; it made the last grains of her resolve disappear. The sky was slowly lightening, and their time was coming to an end. These past few days, she had been able to pretend she was alright with just being friends.

Not now though, not when they were both equally as tired, and not when he looked this good.

Katty reached up and grabbed some of his hair that had fallen around his face when he had inspected hers earlier. Weaving her thin fingers into his dark hair, she tugged him forward and down towards her while she tried to twist her neck so Daryl was more attainable.

Somehow, their lips connected, and it was the sweetest reverie that Katty had felt. She supposed that it was a combination of her own exhaustion and sudden neediness, but Daryl's smoky taste had never been more satisfying. It was an awkward position, they were both clumsy and rushed, but Katty didn't want to skip over or alter a moment of it.

She was pleased that Daryl had responded to her advance immediately, moving his lips against hers easily. Katty disconnected theirs mouth so that she could sit up and flip around quickly. Placing her hand back on Daryl's thighs, she was now on her knees in front of him.

Katty was more appreciative of the slowly approaching dawn in that moment. The way that Daryl looked at her, all intense eyes, dilated pupils, and mouth slightly parted; she wouldn't have seen that if it had still been dark out.

Daryl didn't move as she slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips back to his, Daryl's hands clenched tightly at his side. Katty felt slow and tentative, though the energy that prickled around them was anything but.

She was the one who had said that they shouldn't do this anymore. Katty felt like a fucking hypocrite, draping herself across him. Her mind started moving a mile a minute, unfocussed on the man under her fingertips and anxiously racing around possibilities.

He was responding to her, slanting and gliding his mouth and tongue with Katty's. Daryl seemed to pick up on the sudden nervous, hesitant air that stifled Katty, and seemed to slow down to match her.

Katty pulled away again, feeling dizzy as Daryl's breath danced across her face, panting slightly.

"We're friends, right?" she murmured, unsure how to ask her question any other way. It wasn't the best method; it was unclear and left room for a lot of misinterpretation. Katty wasn't even sure exactly what she _wanted_ to interpret to Daryl, feeling confused herself.

It was an echo of what she had asked him a few days ago, and she wondered if he would answer it the same way. Did she want him to? He had said 'friends ain't do this shit', and at the time, Katty thought it was romantic in a strange way. Then Daryl had ignored her, so maybe he thought of her as less of a friend, and more of a – a what, exactly? Katty's brain hurt trying to dissect their situation.

Instead of repeating himself, Daryl just nodded, not saying anything, and Katty wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not. Was this just two people – friends, maybe, using each other to relieve tension, or something more? Did she want it to be? Daryl's gaze was still just as heated, but he still didn't move towards her, and Katty leaned forward, kissing him lingeringly before moving away once more.

She reconsidered Daryl's words from earlier. Katty's heart was hammering in her chest, and while she looked at Daryl, she decided, for once in her life, to just turn her brain off and be in the moment. Stop overthinking and reading into everything. It might bite her in the arse later, but Katty was tired enough and wound tight enough that she stopped caring.

"Friend's help each other – _blow off steam_ ," she purred, her hands sliding up his thighs. Daryl seemed to freeze, his gaze narrowing as he licked his lips once again. Katty squeezed his thighs to try and get some sort of response out of him, and squeaked when Daryl lashed out. He grabbed her at her waist, finger tips harshly digging into her ribcage, and pulled her onto his lap without a word.

He was more of a physical person, Katty decided when Daryl simply angled his mouth onto hers again, kissing her crushingly hard, instead of responding verbally. His hands stayed at her waist, and it shot electricity up Katty's spine when she felt him toying with the edges of her shirt. His tongue entered her mouth languishingly and devastatingly slow, massaging against hers and Katty shifted her hips, moving closer to him on his lap.

A near groan reverberated through him at her motion, and Katty smiled through the kiss, weaving her hands into his hair. It was so fucking satisfying, eliciting any response out of him, considering how controlled Daryl normally was of himself.

Katty turned her face away from Daryl's slightly, leading his mouth to her neck. He immediately found the spot under her ear that made her squirm. Daryl's lips attached to her neck, sucking and licking at the spot, and Katty whimpered, grinding her centre against his hard length through his pants.

She leaned back and lifted her arms above her head, Daryl's eyes following her every move. The heat between them was near unbearable, and Katty suddenly felt suffocated in her clothes.

Hesitantly, Daryl's rough hands slid along the skin at her waist, following her vest top up and over Katty's head. His eyes were impossibly dark in the early morning light, connecting with her own fleetingly before he trailed them down her front. Her skin prickled delightedly as he unabashedly scoured every curve and dip that was available to his eyes.

She almost moaned at how hungrily he wracked his eyes over her body, his large hands tightening at Katty's sides. At her shaky inhale, Daryl's eyes snapped back up to hers. Katty bit her lip and reached behind her back, easily unhooking the clasps on her bra and throwing it over his shoulder, not watching or caring where it landed. The cool air combined with the intensity on Daryl's face caused her nipples to harden immediately,

With new vigor, Daryl's lips attached back to her neck, his facial hair scratching and making her skin tingle. He trailed down towards her chest, his lips and tongue attaching to one nipple while his callused hand grasped her other breast. Katty's head tipped back, and couldn't think straight enough to be embarrassed by the whimper that escaped her. Her back arched and hips ground against Daryl, another groan sounding as she felt how hard he was. Katty heard Daryl growl, and he tweaked her nipple rougher while his teeth pinched the other one. The slight pain made Katty gasp out, writhing against him. She could feel herself become soaked, her mind fuzzy with want.

Grabbing Daryl's face and pulling him roughly up towards her face again, the kiss she received was all heat and teeth and desire. Daryl's hand massaged the fleshy mounds on her chest, plucking and pinching her nipples in turn. Katty couldn't keep any noise at bay, whimpers and gasps the only sounds that they could hear.

They were going to get caught, she realized. It was still quite early, and the next person wouldn't be around yet to relieve her, but Katty had no desire to be caught gyrating on top of Daryl with her tits out.

A laugh escaped her at their situation, and Katty pulled away from him quickly. Daryl's face morphed into confusion and irritation, and she quickly leaned forward to peck his lips once more.

"That was fun, see ya Daryl," she said jokingly, fully knowing it would piss him off. Daryl's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, but before he had the chance to snap at her, Katty jumped off his lap.

She looked around for her bra, confused where it went. Quickly spotting it in the dirt by the car to the side, she snorted. Katty hadn't realized that she had chucked it that far. It felt weird, climbing down from the walkway of the front gate, topless.

Bending down to grab it from the dirt, Katty grinned to herself when she heard Daryl stomping angrily towards her. She knew she was being a bitch, but it was just too hard to resist teasing him sometimes. Katty turned around to explain to him the chances of them being caught, immediately being met by his irritated expression.

"Th'fuck was that?" he snarled at her, appearing in her personal space, scowling down at Katty. She bit her lip at the fire in his eyes and the hard line set into his jaw, suddenly at a loss for tangible words.

"Didn't realize yer a fuckin' cock tease," Katty would admit it, she deserved that for her little joke. Glancing down, her breath hitched at the obvious strain in his pants. Daryl was still half talking, half yelling at her, words that Katty wasn't hearing anymore.

She suddenly dropped a hand to Daryl, cupping his hardness and squeezing lightly. Daryl's words died in his mouth, his eyes still angry, desire and intrigue now coating his features. Katty watched his face as she squeezed him again, relishing in how his eyes fluttered closed momentarily, a raspy groan sounding at the back of his throat. Leaning forward, she nipped at his throat roughly as Daryl's hands came up to her bare chest once again.

"Am I?" she questioned, grazing her teeth up to his ear. "I'm sorry that I've been _bad_ , Daryl," her voice held a teasing note, and she cupped him one last time, squeezing soundly when she said 'bad'.

She let out a girlish squeal when Daryl's hands grasped roughly at her hips, shoving her backwards. Katty landed and bounced on the bonnet of the old car, coughing when dust flew up and into her lungs.

Daryl looked predatory, stalking towards her, and it made Katty's thighs clench together at the look on his face. She leaned back onto her elbows as he approached, grabbing either of her legs at the knee, moving them apart so he could fit between them. Daryl grabbed her by the chin, roughly crashing his mouth into hers before he quickly ripped away from her.

The look in his eye was exciting and dangerous, and Katty was _soaked_ at the thought of what was going to happen.

Grabbing the sides of both her legs again, Daryl roughly pulled her body towards him, Katty letting out a surprised gasp when her elbows slid out from under her and her back hit the metal of the car. Daryl's hands fell to the button of her pants, and he paused momentarily to look at Katty questioningly, resuming his ministrations once she nodded carelessly in his direction, eager to continue.

"Ho – shit," she laughed when Daryl grabbed her hips and flipped Katty over onto her stomach once he had undone the front of her pants. Katty put her elbows out in front of her so that she could prop herself up, and watched over her shoulder as Daryl yanked Katty's favourite black jeans carelessly down her legs so that they stopped at her knees. Daryl toyed with the band of her panties, glancing at her quickly before pulling them down her legs to meet her jeans. He slid a toying finger along her folds, and made an appreciative noise when he found out how wet she was. An embarrassing mewl escaped her when Daryl pushed a finger into her, Katty's back arching and her mouth dropping open at the intrusion. She cried out when Daryl added another finger and started to pump and curl his digits.

"Fuck, yer so wet, girl," he rasped at her, pulling his fingers out to slide her wetness across her folds.

Katty hadn't realized that she was holding her breath until Daryl slapped her arse firmly and she yelped. Scowling over her shoulder, Katty saw Daryl smirking at her while he undid his own pants.

"Hurry up," she snapped, aware of how risky and stupid they were being. "Unless you want to get caught with your cock ou – "

Her irritation was cut short to make way for a loud moan as Daryl pushed quickly and somewhat roughly into her. Her walls pulsated around him, stretched almost uncomfortably around his length. Katty planted her forehead into the bonnet of the car, her hand stretched out and grasping at the edge where the windshield was. Daryl's hands grasped her hips, not allowing her time to accustom herself to his size before he started to move inside her.

"Damn, finally found a way ta make ya shut up," he laughed lightly from behind her. Katty didn't have the capacity to say something rude, so she swatted at him from her position on her stomach, missing Daryl entirely. She heard him snort again before he continued thrusting, and Katty cried out loudly when he slammed particularly hard into her, grasping desperately at the smooth metal surface. Neither of them had the time or the current emotional capacity to make this about anything other than getting off, which, judging by the feeling building in her abdomen, was soon.

Katty tried to twist to look over her shoulder at Daryl, his expression not helping her last in the slightest. He was looking down, watching himself thrust into Katty over and over, the look on his face absolutely fucking primal and sexy. She whimpered, her walls clenching around him again, and Daryl glanced up at her. Grabbing her hips again, Daryl pulled her towards him, his thrusts becoming shorter, faster, more rushed. Katty's legs were more firmly planted on the ground, and he reached around to press on her clit, alternating between circling and lightly pinching it. The tingling, tight feeling in Katty's lower abdomen intensified, and she could feel Daryl's thrusts become irregular as he drew near his finish.

"Oh fuck," she cried out, stars dancing at the edge of her vision. "Please, please, please," Katty repeated, not sure what she was begging for past immediate release. Daryl's fingers worked on her bundle of nerves more vigorously, the combination of that with the rough, quick thrusts, making her mouth open, no words spilling out.

"Gonna cum for me, girl?" his gravelly voice sent her over the edge, and Katty came, pulsating erratically around him as her orgasm spasmed through her body. Daryl groaned at the feeling, thrusting hard a few more times before she felt him stop and finish inside of her. The feeling of him filling her up caused more useless begging and unintelligible sounds to coat the air.

Daryl's hands fell to either side of her on the car, both panting, trying desperately to catch their breath.

She whimpered when he pulled out of her soon after, not ready to lose that feeling yet. Katty didn't move right away, suddenly exhausted. She wished she could just sleep here.

She tugged her panties and jeans back up before Katty rolled over and buttoned her jeans. Daryl was standing above her, watching her evenly with an unreadable expression. She quickly looked him up and down, frowning that he looked not a hair out of place from usual.

"How is it that you look perfectly normal and I look like I've been fucked?"

Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes before letting them trail down to her still exposed chest. Katty, suddenly feeling entirely exposed and unsure, covered her breasts. Katty didn't have much time to contemplate how to break what she perceived as an awkward silence before he handed her bra to her gingerly. Katty snorted at how uncomfortable he looked holding it.

"It's a bra, it won't bite."

She could have sworn she saw him blush before quickly turning away and leaving to retrieve Katty's vest top. Chucking the item of clothing at her, Katty put it on just in time, before Glenn appeared a few minutes later, walking towards them to switch watch shifts.

"Mornin'," the man greeted them with a yawn, then eyed both Katty and Daryl somewhat suspiciously. Katty knew her face was probably red, her hair fucked up, her clothes not completely straight; it didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"Morning, Glenn," she said casually, hoping to distract him. She heard Daryl start to walk away without so much as a 'bye', and resisted scowling at his retreating form over her shoulder. Yeah, not like they didn't have _anything_ to talk about, she thought sarcastically.

"Uneventful night," she said casually to Glenn, referring to the watch.

Glenn's lips twitched, "Oh, that's good," Katty didn't like the expectant, slowly growing grin on his face. She glanced down and straightened out her shirt, batting the dirt off the front of it.

When she looked up, Glenn's eyes were fixed on something off to the side, his eyebrows raised. Katty glanced over and cringed. The old car, previously coated in dust, dirt, and debris, now had a displaced spot where Katty had been splayed across it.

Fuck.

"Well, I'm pretty knackered, I'm going to get going. Have a good morning, Glenn," she chattered at him, stretching her arms above her head and fake yawning for emphasis. Katty's heart was racing, and where she had been exhausted for days, the last thing on her mind currently was sleep.

"Uh, okay," Glenn said, flicking his dark eyes from the car and then towards Katty multiple times.

Katty turned away quickly and starting walking away, with the intent to go home and contemplate how she would – was fix the right word? – how she would handle her current situation with Daryl.

"Chair must not have been comfy, huh?" Katty jumped and halfway turned to look over her shoulder at Glenn, who had called out to her.

"What?" she asked, not understanding why Glenn was suddenly interested in conversing about furniture when she had already started walking away.

"You're walking weird, so it must not have been comfortable," he reiterated, and Katty's face immediately started to burn at the realization of what Glenn meant.

Katty's mouth opened and closed dumbly, before she snapped it closed, unable to think of a suitable retort. Glenn's laughter when she merely turned around and kept walking did nothing to help how pink she was sure her face was.

Maggie was going to have a field day when Glenn told her.

* * *

 **A/N:** I edited this way too many times, kept overthinking it, and kept changing how it ended. The next chapter will probably pick up exactly where this one left off, just Daryl's point of view instead. I just couldn't figure out a way to split it up appropriately, and really didn't want to end it on a serious note.

I know it might seem like it escalated quickly, but I couldn't picture it happening any other way – they're both too, _Katty and Daryl_ for it to be planned or romantic or anything else.

See you in the next one!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time:_ _Daryl didn't have to focus his time on avoiding Kat; she seemed to be better at it than he was._


	20. Alright

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, everyone! We've passed 200 reviews and 300 follows! So here's an entirely Daryl POV chapter in celebration.**

 **Just wanted to say some of the reviews made me laugh this week, especially** **KioshiUshima** **calling Katty a teenage boy and** **Biasoul** **wanting to throttle her; loved those reactions hahah.**

 **Also, to the wonderful people that are really eager for the rest of the group or Daryl to find out about Katty, I can't say it'll be soon, sorry! That will obviously be a big moment so I can't just pop it in for fun as dinner conversation or something. But we will talk about Woodbury soon, I swear! Trying to keep with the outline I've sketched out for this story, it's so hard not to blurt everything out.**

 **Thanks to** **addicted2memories** **,** **celia azul** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **universe without a soul** **,** **norcalpc** **,** **jeanf** **,** **JenTen** **,** **KioshiUshima** **,** **LoveFiction2016** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **jeanf** **,** **jeanf** **,** **jezzabelle** **,** **Sevvus** **, and** **suzzie** **for reviewing! And to all the people that added this to their alert list, thank you.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 20: Alright

Daryl didn't have to focus his time on avoiding Kat; she seemed to be better at it than he was.

He probably should've been looking at it as a blessing in disguise, but it really was quite unnerving. He typically had a grasp of where she was at all times, whether it was on watch, at either of the two houses that their group occupied, with Deanna or in the infirmary. For the last day and a half, she was completely under his radar, which wasn't from Daryl not paying attention.

It was probably the exact opposite, not that he would ever admit it to anyone.

Daryl refused to call what had happened a mistake, a regret, whatever synonym people used when they accidentally fucked someone and had second thoughts about it. It wasn't supposed to have happened, it definitely _shouldn't_ have happened, he didn't have alcohol to blame or anything else other than their combined efforts.

But he wouldn't call it a regret. He couldn't, considering how fucking good it had felt to be inside of her. Daryl's dick twitched at the mere memory of Kat, bent over the hood of the dirty car, whimpering and moaning and making noises that Daryl was surprised he didn't cum his pants at before he had a chance to take his dick out.

And how goddamned _wet and tight_ she had been, holy shit. It had been scores better than anything he had ever imagined in his head or while looking at that stupid photo Daryl still had of Kat.

Fuck. Daryl tried to focus his mind elsewhere when he realized that he was already half hard thinking about it. He scowled at the cookie in his hand that Carol had made.

Daryl didn't like to think at any length into the future; it was difficult and somewhat pointless to do in the apocalypse. But he figured that they would both get over it eventually. He looked at it like it was just an itch that needed to be scratched. They were both tired and stressed and preoccupied and every over adjective that made it acceptable that Daryl ignored the voice in his head screaming at him not to.

Plus, it was Kat that brought up the fact that they were 'friends', whatever the fuck that meant or whatever it had to do with anything. She had asked him that same question twice now, and both times, he didn't know how to respond. Was that Kat's way of implicitly telling him that she wanted nothing more to do with him than friendship? Was she being a chick and wanted him to argue and, Daryl snorted to himself, fight for her?

Kat didn't make sense to him. She was and wasn't difficult for him to read; one glance at her face told him everything he needed to know at a surface level. Past that, it was confusing. She seemed unsure half the time when she spoke about anything that wasn't a joke, like Kat was being purposefully vague or was nervous that she'd say something she didn't mean. Which was likely true, considering that she couldn't seem to make up her mind.

Daryl didn't think she was jerking him around. Or, he hoped she wasn't. Kat didn't seem like the type, though her appearance and stereotypical California life could speak a different story. He just assumed that Kat didn't know anymore than him what the fuck was going on, which was fine with Daryl, as long as she wasn't a step ahead of him.

Didn't mean that the mixed messages didn't piss him off and it didn't mean that suddenly he wanted Kat to be his little apocalypse wife. One night she was telling him that they shouldn't keep jumping each other, the next she had taken her tits out and grabbed his dick when he yelled at her.

He felt a headache coming on.

Daryl assumed that that would be the first, last, and only time he'd be balls deep in her, which Daryl could live with. He had done it once, that was surely enough. Like Merle had said many times, "Pussy was pussy and it ain't smart to get attached".

Which was why it was a good thing that Kat had been MIA for the past day and a half. Not that he was counting.

It did irk him, however, that he hadn't the faintest fuckin' clue what Kat was thinking or what she was going to do about what had happened. Daryl knew he probably should have stuck around after instead of leaving the first chance he got, even if it was just to snap at her that this shit would never happen again. He just had to get out of there the second that Glenn started looking between them both, like he knew that something had happened. Daryl supposed he did. He had definitely seen Maggie look worse than Kat had in that moment after one of the many times that Glenn and Maggie had snuck off. He just wouldn't have been able to stand there while Glenn undoubtedly made a comment, so he left without saying anything.

The smirks that the couple had been sending him were irritating enough, and Daryl felt like he couldn't escape it. Obviously, the kid had to have told Maggie; Glenn couldn't keep a secret from his wife if it killed him.

Daryl almost had a brain aneurysm when he found that someone had left a string of condoms folded up on his pillow; it had taken everything for him not to strangle Glenn with it.

"Daryl."

He almost fell backwards off the railing the he was sitting on at the sound of Rick's voice. Whipping around from his seated position, Rick was smirking at him, probably at the fact that he had successfully made him jump.

"Didn't mean to startle you," he chuckled, which Daryl scowled at. "Just wondered if you felt up for going on a run to the Walmart down the highway."

Daryl tried not to appear too eager at the opportunity to not only get out of Alexandria for a while, but to get away from Kat and anyone else that knew that they had fucked.

"Sure," he grunted in response, "for what?" It didn't really matter what it was for. It had been _too damn long_ since Daryl had been able to leave for an extended period of time, and he wouldn't pass it up now.

Rick shook a piece of paper in Daryl's direction, "Made a list. Mostly extras of clothes and if you guys find any non-perishables or supplies for the infirmary. It's probably been picked clean by now but worth a shot."

Daryl didn't miss that Rick had referred to Daryl as _you guys_. He resisted rolling his eyes to himself; obviously it had been too good to be true, Daryl wouldn't be going alone. He just hoped that whoever it was with would be quiet enough that Daryl could still clear his head.

"Who else is comin'? Aaron?" Daryl ventured a guess, assuming that the other man was also feeling the cabin fever setting in.

"Not quite," Carol's voice sounded from behind him, a light, amused note trailing in her voice.

Rick's lips twitched, his eyes laughing, and Daryl felt his stomach clench. This couldn't be good.

He turned around to see Kat standing there beside Carol, her eyes nervously flicking between himself and Rick.

Fuck.

Kat looked weirdly dirty, more so than usual. It didn't rival how Daryl looked at any given moment, he accepted, but it was atypical for her. What the hell had she been up to?

"Just thought that since both of you seem really restless and fidgety lately it'd be good to go out," Rick drawled at them both, Daryl's neck pickling at the underlying amusement in his voice. He refused to meet his friend's eye. Had Glenn told everyone?

"I'm not restless," Kat's slightly raspy voice disagreed, the sound making the hairs on his arm stand on end. It didn't help that when she spoke, the only thing that he could think of was her mewling his name.

This wasn't a good idea.

"And that's why you've been sneaking off outside the walls?" Carol challenged, her eyebrows raised. Daryl looked back over to Kat, the interest in the situation outweighing his discomfort. So that's where she had been.

Kat opened her mouth to argue and then glanced at Daryl, closing her mouth once more. Daryl wondered what she had decided not to say.

Rick glanced at Carol, his brows quirking, before he looked back at Daryl. "Daryl, do you want to go?" he asked bluntly, an expectant look on his face.

Daryl hesitated, and sent a stern look at Kat. Obviously, he did. He didn't want to be around Kat though. Maybe if he glared at her she would leave him alone until Daryl could figure out what to do. He nodded stiffly at Rick.

"And, do you, Katty, want to go?" Carol asked, her eyebrows raised so high it was a wonder they weren't in her hairline. Daryl cringed at the fact that the wording sounded like wedding vows. He didn't put it past either of them that they had done that on purpose, either.

"Yes, but I can always wait for Calum to – "

"You've had those boots and borrowed clothes for too long," Carol interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "Calum's busy with Heath, so you'll go with Daryl." Her eyes flicked between them suspiciously. "Or is there a problem?"

"No," Kat denied too quickly, and Daryl wanted to groan. The girl seemed like she had never lied about anything in her life. "No problem."

"Good," Rick agreed, "Keys are in the truck. Deanna knows about it, so grab what you need from the armory and go."

Katty turned on heel and left immediately, the pace of her step making it apparent that she didn't want to be there. Daryl watched her leave, his eyes drifting down to Kat's ass momentarily before Rick cleared his throat.

Looking over at the man, Daryl frowned at Rick's barely contained grin. He waved the paper list at Daryl's face daintily, and Daryl scowled before snatching it.

Rick laughed lightly again, making Daryl grind his teeth. "Good luck. Have fun," he said simply with a nod.

"Not too much fun," Carol chimed, and Daryl directed his scowl towards the older woman. She merely smiled sweetly in response, and Daryl turned away briskly without a word, choosing to ignore the snort that Carol let out at his departure.

Daryl walked quickly to the truck, thinking that if he beat Kat there, he'd just leave her. He was an odd mixture of disappointed and relieved when he popped the door open and she was scooted over to the other side of the bench already, seated in a position that looked forcibly relaxed.

Daryl paused at the door, and looked at her until Kat glanced in his direction. He was pleased that her face was tinged with pink and that he obviously wasn't the only uncomfortable one in the vehicle.

"Hey," she ground out, and Daryl was amused at the stiff movement of her jaw. Kat's expressions always entertained him, though he currently wished that he couldn't see her.

Daryl grunted in response and swung his body into the drivers seat, starting the engine without a word.

They drove in silence for a while, Daryl becoming increasingly irritated that Kat was fidgeting and moving around.

"Take half tha list. We'll split up when we get there," he snapped, leaning to one side to grab the folded paper from his back pocket. Shoving it towards Kat, he heard her scoff before she took it from between them on the bench.

"So is this how it's going to be?"

Daryl resisted cringing at the blunt question, instead resorting to deflect it coldly. "How _what's_ gonna be?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Kat just stared ahead. "We shagged, Daryl. We didn't murder someone," her sarcastic drawl almost made him smirk, the colloquialism sounding entirely foreign.

Instead of smirking, he set his jaw in a firm line. "That's all it was," he affirmed, "Fuckin'." It almost physically hurt him to admit that it had happened out loud, but maybe they could forget about it if they acknowledged it. He didn't really want to lose Kat as a friend – whatever she was – Kat was easy to talk to.

Kat refused to look towards him, he noted. "That so?" she asked testily. Daryl frowned to himself, what was with her tone?

" _Just blowin' off steam_ ," he knew he was using her own words against her, but Daryl didn't know what else to say. "Quit bein' such a girl 'bout it." He added, hoping to snap Kat out of whatever mood she was in.

Like out of a horror movie, Daryl could see Katty's head turn painstakingly slow to turn to glare at him. He refused to meet her angry look, just tightened his grip on the wheel while he waited for her to blow up. What'd he say?

Daryl flinched when her response was eerily calm. "Quit being such a girl about it," she repeated slowly, Kat's pointed enunciation on his words making Daryl tense up further.

Kat didn't say anything else the entirety of the drive, her gaze steady and focussed on the road in front of them. Daryl glanced nervously at her every now and then, unnerved that she was so quiet.

This wasn't helping him clear his mind. He frowned to himself, deciding that Kat was being a bitch. If anything, _he_ should be pissed off, not her. Daryl was the one getting made fun of, Kat was sending mixed messages, she had made advances on _him_. Nope, she definitely didn't have any reason to be upset.

Pulling up to the side of the supercentre, Kat jumped out before he even cut the engine and had time to look around. She shut her door rather hard, and Daryl scowled, opening his own door and stomping around to the other side.

"Fuck's your problem?" he sneered, approaching Kat and glaring down at her smaller figure.

She didn't respond right away, just adjusted her wrap of knives around her leg and the machete at her hip. Kat looked up, her mismatched eyes locking on his calmly.

"Not important right now, let's just get through this," she said cooly, though Daryl could see that there was an underlying irritation. He almost jumped at the sudden ripping noise, Kat thrusting half of the ripped list at him.

"We're splitting up, remember?" Kat said pointedly, turning away once he had snatched it from her grasp.

Daryl glanced around, there didn't appear to be any Walkers in the area. The Alexandria supply runners had probably visited before and taken out most of them, Daryl mused. This was the closest Walmart, and Daryl assumed most of the food would be picked over by now.

He was somewhat relieved when they opened the door and scoped out the store, Kat didn't go barrelling in. She stood near him, her hand at the ready on her leg, waiting for movement.

"Calum said they've cleared this place a few times," she said lowly, "it shouldn't be too bad."

Daryl scoffed, "Ain't trustin' that," he said stubbornly, not happy with the mention of her friend.

Kat let out an irritated sigh. "I'm going to grab shoes and clothes. Have fun with your macho bullshit."

Daryl scowled at her retreating figure, hating that his eyes still involuntarily looked down towards Kat's ass. He watched as she grabbed a basket and started wandering towards the aisles with shoes.

He let out an irritated breath and then grabbed the other half of the list, scanning it over. Daryl couldn't help but keep glancing over towards Kat as he stalked towards the section with toiletries. Daryl worked quickly, grabbing random shampoo, cotton pads, bathroom shit. He cringed when he had to find tampons, snatching a few boxes without looking at any details past the obvious box. Maybe Kat was on her rag and that's why she was being so testy.

Daryl looked through the small pharmacy section, not surprised when all that was left was a few bottles of antibiotics and multivitamins that had rolled under the shelving. It was scarce and Daryl didn't spend much time combing through the shelves.

Looking over his list again, Daryl decided he was just about finished and went to check on Kat. She was in the clothing section, her backpack and another basket beside her full with two pairs of shoes and clothes.

Kat glanced up from the wrack when she saw him approach. "Forgot to ask Carol's shoe size. You think 8 is a safe bet? American sizes still confuse me."

Daryl shrugged, unconcerned. "Probably," he said, unhelpfully.

She eyed him and then tossed a few packages of socks on top of the already full basket. Daryl gaped at Kat when she suddenly pulled her shirt over her head and reached behind her back.

"Woah, the hell are ya doin'?" he called, raising his hands in front of him to block out the image of Kat in her bra.

Her eyebrows were raised, staring at Daryl like he had grown another head. Or like he was the one that was ripping off his clothes and not her. How could she be thinking of sex at a time like this?

"I need to try on the bra, I don't know my size anymore," she explained, shaking the undergarment at Daryl, who looked away.

"Right here?" Daryl questioned, purposefully looking anywhere but Kat.

"Are you serious?" Kat asked, laughter weaved between her words. "Okay, Daryl, I'll go to a _fitting room_ ," she mocked, grabbing her basket, along with her backpack, and making her way over.

Why did she even need to try it on? Daryl didn't understand why Kat didn't just grab a few different ones and leave. There couldn't be that many choices in size.

"Hurry up," he snapped, walking close behind her. Kat tossed an amused look over her shoulder.

"You didn't do a lot of shopping with girlfriends before this, did you?"

Daryl scoffed, which seemed to answer Kat's question. He had certainly _never_ been shopping with a girlfriend before, or really had anyone that he would have called his girlfriend before. All his relationships had consisted of drunken, quick fucks, which had worked perfectly fine for him before.

"I'll be quick," she reassured Daryl, who rolled his eyes, knowing it would be anything but quick. Kat sauntered over to the closest fitting room, kicking off her old and tattered boots in the process. "Might as well put on these babies too," Kat smiled at the new, identical pair of tan Timberland boots.

Swinging open the door, Kat let out a strangled yell as a Walker, tangled in a wool sweater, stumbled out and fell into her. It's arms were trapped under the sweater, and Kat struggled against it, shoving the larger body away as the Walker snapped threateningly at her neck. Daryl drew his crossbow, firing quickly as soon as Kat rolled away from the flailing and writhing undead shopper. The bolt lodged itself in the eye socket, and the Walker stilled on the dirty, carpeted floor.

Annoyed, Daryl grabbed Katty roughly by her shoulder as she was getting to her feet, hauling her up.

"Ya almost got yerself killed," he snapped into her face, irritated that the girl had been so fucking careless. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if she had been bit. Daryl had meant it when he had told himself he wouldn't let her get hurt; Kat somehow felt like his responsibility now.

Kat ripped her shoulder away from Daryl's grasp, and shoved him away with both of her hands. Daryl only took a step back, not affected much by her attempt at dislodging his footing. "Don't fucking touch me," she sneered back at him, visibly angry. "I would have handled it."

Kat reached down and grabbed the forgotten bra on the ground and turned away from him, intent on going into the previously targeted change room. Daryl snapped out of it and stalked after Kat when she slammed the flimsy plastic door shut behind her, kicking it back open as he stomped through. Kat whipped around, still in the previous bra, scowling at him.

He grabbed Kat's forearm solidly, "Quit bein' so fuckin' careless," he seethed, referring to the noise that she was making. Kat tried again to rip her arm from his grip, but Daryl kept his larger hand firmly wrapped around her arm.

"Stop manhandling me," she squirmed against him, scowling up at Daryl, fire in her eyes.

Daryl felt the blood rush down to his cock at the heat between them, finding Kat's anger quite attractive in that moment. Her hair was mussed, face flushed, and her accent seemed to exaggerate itself when she was pissed off.

He slapped his other arm on the mirror behind Kat, trapping her in the corner. "Yer actin' like a bitch," Daryl growled, his voice gravelly and low.

Kat seemed to freeze, her chest heaving as she stared up at him. Daryl wondered briefly if she knew as well as him how inevitable it was. Daryl's hand slipped from her forearm to the back of Kat's neck, jerking her towards him as he craned his neck down, their lips meeting in a heated, demanding kiss.

Daryl took a step forward, pressing himself against her so that she could feel how hard he was, smirking when Kat let out a throaty groan, arching her back against him. He angled his mouth against hers, sliding his tongue into her mouth as Daryl felt Kat reach down and start to undo his pants. Daryl also reached down, grabbing a knife from the wrap around her thigh and then pulling away from her mouth. Kat looked momentarily confused, dazed, before Daryl slipped the blade under the front of her old bra, slicing the fabric that connected the two cups.

The fabric gave way with a clean, ripping noise, Kat letting out a surprised gasp as her breasts spilled out.

"Fuckin' asshole," she said when Kat had regained her voice, pulling her arms out of the useless scrap of material.

Daryl dropped the knife on the ground carelessly before he snorted, reaching down to finish undoing his pants. "Maybe next time," he joked.

Kat elbowed him, her own hands tearing at the leg wrap and then at the buttons on her jeans, kicking them off hurriedly. Daryl let out a bark of laughter when Kat stumbled at the pool of fabric at her ankles. She sent him a withering look, grabbing Daryl by either side of his face and connecting their lips again, nipping at him roughly.

Daryl growled, sliding his hands around her to grab her ass, hoisting her up and shoving her against the cold mirror. Kat's hands wrapped themselves around Daryl's neck, her legs following around his waist as Daryl fumbled to shove the rest of his pants down. He quickly reached around and moved her panties to the side, groaning out loud when his fingers caught how ready Kat already was for him.

Shifting her weight down, Daryl's eyes locked on Kat's face as he guided himself easily into her. Kat's eyes fluttered shut and her head tipped back, hitting lightly against the mirror, she let out a long, satisfied moan as he filled her. Daryl felt her contract around him involuntarily, and he leaned his head forward, trying to focus so he didn't nut too early.

Thrusting up into her, Daryl tightened his grip under her ass as his hips slammed Kat repeatedly into the wall. It was a symphony of skin on skin and cries falling from Kat's open lips as Daryl pumped into her.

He knew he wasn't going to last long, and starting thrusting harder into Kat as he reached between them to play with her clit vigorously. She was too hot, too wet, and looked too damn good pressed between the fitting room wall and him, writhing and mewling unintelligible words.

Kat let out a string of expletives as her climax ripped through her unexpectedly, her back arching off of the mirror as she clawed desperately at Daryl's back. The combination of her noises and the tight heat pulsing erratically around him made Daryl's knees buckle slightly, and he thrust roughly, his fingers still working her bundle of nerves as he forced Kat to ride out her orgasm. Daryl clamped his teeth on her neck as he came undone, filling her up while he let out a low, throaty groan. She whimpered at the sensation and Daryl dragged his mouth down her neck, nipping at her skin whenever she would tighten around him.

They stood there for a minute, catching their breath, before Daryl felt tired from holding her up and slid himself out of her, a whine leaving Kat, letting her down slowly. He made sure that her legs weren't going to give out before he stepped back, tucking himself back into his pants.

When he looked up, Daryl swore out loud. Kat was leant against the mirror, slipping the new bra onto her arms. She hadn't fixed her panties, and Daryl thought he had never seen anything more fucking erotic than seeing his own cum dripping down Kat's thighs.

Daryl took a step towards her, but froze, his blood changing temperatures immediately.

"You sure you saw them go in here?" a male voice asked.

"No, but there's dick all around here. Where else would they go?" another answered, neither bothering to keep their voices down.

Katty's head jerked up, her eyes wide as she moved quickly to fasten the bra. Daryl grabbed a shirt from Kat's basket and threw it at her after she had pulled her jeans back up and refastened her weapons securely. Daryl threw his pack on whilst Kat copied him, struggling to grab both baskets while holding a throwing knife in her other hand.

She nodded once when Daryl moved a finger to his lips, his crossbow at the ready as he slowly opened the door to the fitting room.

Daryl's eye caught movement to the left, and watched as the two unknown men sauntered over to the pharmacy section, swinging knives and bats as they went. He motioned to Kat to follow him as they quickly moved to the clothing racks, weaving silently in between clusters of clothing.

"Check the other side," the first voice snapped at his partner.

Daryl froze, crouching and reaching around to grab Kat by a belt loop, stopping her from moving. She waited silently, pressed against Daryl's side. They watched as feet with dirty, large work boots paced quickly by them, and Daryl motioned for them to move again. Daryl glanced behind them at the man, catching a glimpse of his face as he moved by, craning his neck around.

Daryl's stomach churned when he caught a glimpse of the 'W' on the man's forehead, half hidden by long, greasy hair and skin coated in dirt.

"Edward, there's a geek over here, looks like it's just been put down," the man called out. Daryl and Kat moved away and towards the edge of the clothing section, stopping behind a shelf when they heard the other set of footsteps approach.

"Go look through the food aisles," Edward ordered, "They're around here somewhere. I want that girl."

Daryl felt his temper flare, the primal urge to protect what he considered _his_. Daryl could probably swing around and take out this idiot before following the other to the food section. If there were only two of them, that is. Kat stiffened beside him, and tugged at his sleeve when he remained frozen, glaring over to where the fitting rooms were.

She mouthed something at him that looked like 'Come on,' when Daryl looked over at her, and he nodded. They moved quietly, Daryl leaving first through the propped open, previously automatic doors and scanning the parking lot quickly.

He sent a hand signal to Kat for her to follow, and they jogged towards the truck, Daryl whipping around with his crossbow as they went. They chucked their packs and baskets into the back of the truck before clamoring in, Daryl shifting the old truck and peeling away.

Daryl was still angry. He was shaking. They followed them, and he hadn't noticed. The one made a comment about Kat, they had been close enough to notice her, even if they had been on foot.

"Crazies," he was jerked out of his thoughts at Kat's soft voice, and looked over at her.

"Stringing people up and leaving them. Carving W's into their foreheads," she said, and Daryl furrowed his brow, confused, before he realized that Kat was reciting what he had told her about them. He supposed that she had seen the man's face as well. Daryl had never actually seen the group that had been doing that, but looking at that guy, he doubted that it had been anyone else.

"Yeah, that's them," he confirmed simply, flexing his fingers when Daryl realized how tightly he had been gripping the steering wheel.

There was a stretch of silence between them, and Kat shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Daryl watched out of the corner of his eye as she rubbed the spot that he had bit on her neck.

"That ended pretty shit," Kat commented casually, still massaging her own neck. "At least part of it was fun," she muttered, and Daryl thought she sounded somewhat bitter.

Daryl sent her a questioning look, and Katty rolled her eyes. "It's only fucking, after all," she repeated his words from earlier, sounding unconcerned.

Daryl could see through it though. The dismissive tone. He knew she didn't mean it, and it pissed him off. He set his jaw into a tense line. Why could she just say what she fuckin' meant?

"Cut tha shit," he chided, and Katty turned towards him, her arms crossed.

"What?" she asked defensively, her eyes narrowing.

"It ain't just fuckin' and ya know it," he said, frustrated, casting an irritated look her way. Katty frowned at him in return.

Daryl wasn't a moron. He knew that there was something, stupid as it may be, between them, Daryl just didn't want to admit it. He kept tabs on Kat, even when she wasn't speaking to him, he almost lost his temper when he heard the crazy sumbitch make a comment about her, Daryl even kissed _her_ first in the change room; he had no excuse for that. He was protective of Kat, wanted her safe, and even when he was pissed off at her, he wasn't really _that_ pissed off. Those reasons might be stupid to other people, but it was enough for Daryl.

"Then what is it?" Kat asked, somewhat childishly.

Daryl flicked his crumpled up half of the list at her, and saw it bounce lamely off of her shoulder. "Hell if I know!" he felt entirely exasperated and embarrassed now, and wanted to change the subject. "Fuck do ya want from me?" he snapped, throwing another annoyed look Kat's way. He could feel heat creeping up his neck and hated it.

She spluttered for a minute, unsure what to say. "I dunno – " Kat made a weird, strangled noise in her throat.

"You – I guess."

He peered over at her, surprised at Kat's answer, shitty and awkward as it may have been. No one had said that to him before, and Daryl wasn't sure how to respond. There were a lot of things he didn't like, comparisons between himself and Kat, especially the contrast between their previous lives, all of which made him think that there was no way it were possible.

But there were things he did like, he supposed.

He liked that he seemed to make her feel as unsure as she made him feel, liked that the first thing she thought of that she wanted from him wasn't convoluted, liked that he felt fire and heat whenever he looked at her. And he liked how pink her face was in that moment. Kat was staring straight ahead, color dancing on her cheeks at her admission, and Daryl resisted smirking.

"Alright," he said without looking at her.

The comical way in which Kat's head swiveled around, her mouth agape, almost made Daryl laugh. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking nothing more than confused.

"Alright?" she repeated incredulously, disbelief lacing her features as her brow quirked at him.

Daryl shrugged a shoulder, fixing his eyes to the empty stretch of road in front of them. "Yeah." What else was he supposed to say? He hoped that was enough, at least for now.

A laugh bubbled up from Kat, and she shook her head, rubbing a hand down the front of her face.

"Alright."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey, you! Hope that makes all their stupidity a bit better. This one was fun to write, I like doing Daryl's point of view. The end bit was especially funny for me to write; I can picture it playing out in my head.

Remember to leave a review!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: Was she delirious or did Merle Dixon have a fucking halo?_


	21. Bruised

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello, you! That last episode of Walking Dead was hard to watch but so well done, right? I was glad to see mostly everyone liked how they came to an agreement in the last chapter and that it suited them well.**

 **And, okay, I get it, some of you really want Katty to make up her mind and be more sure of herself with Daryl, but the way I see it, she doesn't have a lot of reason to be super secure in what's going on. She's still relatively new in Alexandria after being alone for a while, she has stuff that she wants to keep secret from everyone, Daryl is not the easiest person to read, and everything that has suddenly changed with him is still new as well. So, how I was trying to write it was less that she's fickle and still deciding whether she's into him or not and more struggling with herself whether he's worth the obvious risk. It wasn't that long ago that Katty had decided that she was going to leave Alexandria after the warehouse run, so it's a lot that has changed in a short amount of time.**

 **Please try to be patient with her! She's not perfect. :)**

 **Thank you to** **sillygabby** **,** **KuteKati1989** **,** **JenTen** **,** **celia azul** **,** **jeanf** **,** **Guest** **,** **Guest** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **Eliana** **,** **purple-pygmy-puff16** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **suzzie** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **LoveFiction2016** **,** **Jasamfromthestart** **,** **KioshiUshima** **,** **Megahn** **,** **Jean** **, and** **Shortyred** **for reviewing. Thanks to everyone that's added this story to their alerts or favourites!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 21: Bruised

"It's not real, Katty, wake up."

Her body jerked as her lungs let in the gasping breath she had been deprived of. Katty wasn't sure if it had been Calum's voice or if her own hyperventilating cries had caught up to her and forced her from sleep. Her foggy mind tried desperately to clear and she blinked, trying to speed up the process.

"Sorry," she muttered lowly, forcing herself to sit up in bed and pulling her legs to her chest. Her throat hurt and she felt cold with sweat. Katty wondered dully if she had been screaming again. Reaching up, she wiped roughly at her eyes, disliking the uncomfortable feeling of dried and new tears on her face.

Calum was silent for a while, and Katty could feel him watching her with somber eyes. She tried to muster a reassuring smile at him, but knew that it looked like a grimace.

He sighed and reached to flick on Katty's bedside light before settling cross-legged in front of her. "You have to talk to me, Katty," her heart clenched at the pleading sound to his voice.

She looked up and regretted it. He was tired, and Katty knew it wasn't just from tonight. Calum was tired, tired and worried, and she could see it in the discoloration under his eyes and the dull, sad look in his eyes. Calum scratched a hand across his chin and then roughed his uncooperative hair up.

He had been pushing her more over the last few days, not laughing off her shitty fabricated tales of nightmares that hadn't happened, trying to lead him off from what was bothering her subconscious.

But she wasn't about to give up the act just yet.

"Bloody Biters again. Really freaked me out at Walmart the other day," Katty supplied, rolling her shoulders, trying to dispel the tension that littered them. Calum didn't need to spend more time worrying about her.

He usually took that for an answer. Calum usually sighed through his nose, usually watched her a bit too long, usually left after she declined to elaborate.

"Stop it," Calum said sternly, and Katty glanced up to see his eyes were narrowed in her direction.

She supposed that today wasn't usual.

Katty decided to play ignorant. "Not like I want to dream about Biters," she snapped back at him, shoving her ice cold feet onto his exposed leg. Calum let out a noise that resembled a hiss, grabbing the sheets that Katty had kicked off during the night and covered his lower half with them.

"I mean stop lying," he clarified, and Katty felt the muscles in her shoulders and neck involuntarily tense once more. "Sometimes you talk in your sleep," Calum continued when he realized that Katty wasn't going to respond. "You were telling Merle to run."

Her throat felt tight, and Katty swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the sweat that had suddenly reappeared on her upper lip.

"Was I?" Katty's question sounded hollow, even to her. It lacked any interest or substantial request for an answer.

Calum nodded. "It was about when we left, wasn't it?"

Her face burnt at the realization that she had been caught. They had done the avoidant dance for so long, each accepting that the other wasn't quite as ignorant as either of them hoped, and Katty wasn't awake enough to deal with the confrontation properly.

She loved Calum, respected him, _owed_ him, told him everything. The only thing that typically held her back from telling her friend about her nightmares was that she didn't want him to feel guilty. Katty could see the whisper of guilt decorating his features whenever Calum looked at her lately, which was part of the reason she had stayed away from Alexandria more often.

Now, she hung around outside the walls mostly due to Daryl and how spineless Katty felt after they first had sex, that had been the main reason. But avoiding Calum's sad expression confirmed the need for her behavior and increased her sudden interest in physical fitness.

Looking at him now, Katty knew it was time to get the fuck over her qualms and just tell him. She couldn't stand lying to her friend or the looks he would give her.

"It's not always about when we escaped. Sometimes it's just the room."

Her voice came out small, but Katty knew Calum didn't miss a word of it, his head jerking back up at her correction.

It was his turn to swallow thickly, and Calum cleared his throat before he asked his next question. "I never knew what happened down there, you know?" Katty frowned. She assumed that Merle had told him. "I guessed from how you looked, but you always avoided telling me once we got out."

Katty felt bruised, from too many nights of hitting rock bottom, from scraping her fingertips along the fear in her subconscious, bruised from pressure and bruised from remorse.

She took a deep breath, wondering if this would do anything for the contusion she felt she had become.

* * *

She had been wandering, snooping in places she didn't belong, and had found Milton in a dimly lit, tin walled room. Much like the room that still haunted her.

That hadn't been surprising, Katty knew that he had been doing research of some sort. Research around Biters. Calum had offered to compile what his mother had known at the CDC with Milton's ideology the moment that Milton had mentioned what he was working on, those long hours locked away.

Seeing it, however, had been another story. There had been a Biter, restrained in every which way, and Katty had watched from the doorway while Milton had nervously tried to catch a sample of saliva from the undead's snapping, snarling mouth. She wasn't sure it could be classified as saliva, but that wasn't important.

Milton was unintimidating; he had a kind face and a nervous nature, and Katty felt sorry for him in that moment.

"I can do it if you want," she called from the doorway, and he had jumped, scrambling away from the Biter's growling jaws.

"You aren't supposed to be down here without permission," Milton hurriedly chattered, walking towards her. Katty had ignored him, snatching the test tube from his clammy palm and walked towards the Biter, unconcerned.

"I'm not worried about getting bitten," she explained as she grabbed the Biter by the stringy hair at it's scalp. It's jaw moved uselessly, and Katty held the end of the tube gingerly as she swiped the opening of it around where it's lips should have been.

Pulling a face, she stepped back and handed it back to a grateful looking Milton.

"What do you want that for anyways?" she asked, grimacing when he started transferring it into equal parts in three other tubes.

"If you must know, I'm gathering different types of DNA for testing," he explained, though his voice lacked any irritation or exasperation. It just held relief for the fact that he hadn't been the one to complete the task.

Katty's lips twitched. "Different types of DNA? You got some pubes in a tube too?"

Milton cast an amused smile over his shoulder at her. "No, but if you're volunteering," he trailed off jokingly, which Katty laughed at.

"Not a chance. Haven't seen Biter bollocks and don't particularly want to change that."

Setting the tubes on a tray, Milton opened a minifridge and Katty peaked over his shoulder, her eyebrows raising at the different array of _samples_ that Milton had managed to collect.

"What's the point?" she had asked, not understanding what he could possibly get out of his own little collection of Biter pieces.

"What's the point?" Milton parroted back, standing up once he had closed the fridge. "Now that I have your friend Calum and some ideas from what they were focussing on at the CDC, there's nothing but time." Katty looked at him strangely, silently prompting him to elaborate.

"Why not try for a cure?"

Katty's blood ran cold at Milton's words, which was odd, considering how fast her heart had started to race.

"A cure," she murmured back, coated with uncertainty.

"We don't have the proper equipment, but why not get a head start for when we do?" Milton explained, excitement in his voice. "Your friend mentioned there's people that could have been immune before, so it must have been just around the corner when they gave up. Could you imagine? Ending this?"

At the time, Milton's words had given her hope. His excitement, his optimism, his sanguinity for the future. It made the words that had been wound tightly in her throat, stuck with doubt, loosen and unwind. Milton wasn't a malicious man. He was trying to help.

She could trust him.

"It might speed things up, then, if you had someone helping you that was immune?" she asked casually, prodding at some biomedical equipment that she couldn't name.

Milton let out a soft snort. "That'd be a miracle."

Her hand were sweaty, shaking as she reached down to unbutton and shove her pants down her legs slightly. Words no longer worked. Was she a miracle?

Katty cleared her throat, and Milton turned disinterestedly to look over at her, doing a double take when he realized that Katty's pants were halfway down her thighs.

"What're you – " Milton's question died in his throat, his eyes landing on the scar on her hip. They widened, and Katty wondered if his words felt tight and sticky in his throat, like hers had been.

* * *

They didn't come for her in the middle of the night, like how you hear about most bad guys striking. They approached her in plain sight and in the middle of the day, with expectance and entitlement. The governor approached her with a smile, though Katty knew now it had been akin to a wolf baring its teeth.

The Governor showed up with two people that Katty had grown to know, even somewhat like; Martinez and Tim.

Merle had been with her at the time, they had just finished another fighting lesson that felt more like Katty was being trained to simply be a punching bag. She had been getting the hand of it, but the more than she advanced, the more she realized that the bulky man had been holding back. Merle still berated her and slapped her around, but it had changed into an odd routine that she looked forward to.

When the Governor said that he had wanted to speak with Katty alone, she didn't miss the wary, suspicious expression on Merle's face. He didn't say anything to stop him, but Katty saw Merle immediately leave and go to the guard wall where Calum had been as she walked away with the Governor.

Milton had told the Governor. Katty didn't see the harm in it at first, she wanted to help Milton. She didn't feel useful in Woodbury, and this provided an opportunity for something that she could offer, something that no one else had. She expected that he would tell the Governor.

A glass of scotch in her hand. A few pretty words and promises that didn't mean anything other than manipulation. Empathic glances and encouraging expressions that had Katty spilling her story.

"You know, Katty, when I first met you and Calum, I welcomed you both to Woodbury with open arms, an open heart, and an opportunity to help make this place thrive," he explained, a kind, relaxed smile on his face. Katty couldn't help but return it with a nod. "I didn't realize how much you two could truly offer Woodbury at the time, but knowing what I do now, you both are truly _a_ _gift_. I want to ask you to help Milton with any of his research projects. I'll be asking Calum to do the same, of course," he seemed to know that Katty was going to ask why Calum hadn't been in the room with them. "I just wanted to talk with you privately first before him. And thank you for everything you'll do in the future for our people."

Katty had agreed eagerly, though looking back at the situation and the Governor's phrasing, she knew that she hadn't had a choice. It was just an illusion.

A hand clasped comfortingly to her shoulder. More vicious teeth, masquerading as a smile. The wolf was going to eat her alive.

" _You are so valuable to this community."_

When she was first put in the chair, restrained at her four limbs as well as a belt around her middle, Katty had been nervous. They said that it had been for her own protection; to make sure she didn't get _unnecessarily hurt_ if she flinched away or jumped. This would be more controlled.

Control was a good word for it.

They started off small, slow, like training a lab rat. She supposed that was another good word for it. _Lab rat._

Milton had broken off a finger from a Biter and scratched her with it, the first of many marks. It hadn't scarred, hadn't become inflamed, it hadn't killed her.

So they moved on. Digging a little deeper, drawing blood, trying again with a tooth or a sharp, snapped end of a bone.

Katty hadn't thought of this outcome. She hadn't signed up for this. For pain, for inhumane experimentation. She tried to get over her anxiety; this was for the greater good, wasn't it? It was worth it, wasn't it?

When she had cried, or complained, the guards had simply gagged her or covered her mouth, irritated with her noises.

She never left the chair for more than the few hours they locked her in a closet to sleep. When she behaved, the guards would let her have food. When she fought, spat, swore, kicked, anything else but behaved, they wouldn't let her have food or let her up that day. The conditioning was obvious.

She was a lab rat, after all.

So they moved on.

The most terrifying moment was when they wrangled a Biter towards her; Katty thought she was going to die. Just because she was immune, didn't mean she couldn't die from being torn apart. They let it scratch her; Katty could still remember the burning gouge in her leg. The first was on her left thigh, above her knee. There were four other, identical marks, scattered around her body. She screamed and cried every time, and the guards laughed. Some would taunt her with the snapping, snarling Biter.

Katty wasn't sure if she had screamed from the pain or the fear, or if it was just the only noise that made any sense to her anymore.

They injected something thick and dark and disgusting into her subcutaneous tissue, to see if she reacted differently if it was inserted into her. It burnt and hurt and Katty begged them to stop. That took longer for her body to break down, Milton noted afterwards.

Katty realized that they were slowly making their way up to letting one bite her again. Even restrained, locked down in a chair, Katty could feel her body quake with fear. What would be the next step after that?

There were always guards. Never Merle though. Katty only ever saw him once when he had stormed in angrily, looking for Martinez, and froze on the spot when he saw Katty restrained in the chair. He had wiped the shock off his face faster that it could register in Katty's bleary mind, snapped something at Martinez, and then left, seemingly unconcerned. Katty had felt like her last shred of hope had been incinerated.

Milton always looked remorseful; Katty supposed he was. Milton decorated the previously bare room with random objects, none that meant anything worth anything to Katty, but she figured that it was his way of saying sorry. He added more over the weeks – was it weeks? – that she was down there; a picture frame with a stock photo here, fake potted flower there, books, pens. It was an apology that farced normalcy, impersonating a room that wasn't her prison.

She didn't care for repentance.

Katty had flinched and shook whenever the footsteps sounded, solid and calm and terrifying. The Governor would always knock before he came in, and it infuriated her at first. It was insulting that they acted like this was her fucking bedroom, instead of a prison. He came almost every day.

His smile was worse. The Governor always smiled pleasantly at her, thanked Katty for doing a good job. Ignored the black eye or split lip she would receive from lashing out against one of the men. She wanted to wipe the smile off his face.

"You are so valuable to this community."

He ordered them to remove her clothes when Katty spat a congealed mass of blood and saliva in the Governor's face. His leer had disappeared, but it was Katty's turn to smile when she successfully broke a guard's nose while they wrestled her out of her clothing.

She had never felt as vulnerable as in that moment, sitting restrained in her chair in her bra and panties, with two men leering at her. The looks were almost as bad as their promises of what they'd do to her when Milton left.

Milton didn't come back one evening after dinner, unlike usual, and the two men took the opportunity. Undid her restraints, let Katty get up on her shaky, unsteady legs. Told her that it would be more fun if she fought, if she resisted.

Katty didn't need to be told twice. She scratched at the man's eyes, her nails splintering and splitting against the concrete when he slammed her body into the ground and then dragged Katty towards him. The other one jeered and laughed while he waited, letting out a whoop of laughter when his friend punched Katty in her other eye and climbed on top of her.

"This is the next experiment, isn't it?" he sneered into her face from above as he reached down to undo his pants and held a knife to Katty's throat. "See if you make immune little babies? Governor mentioned it the other day," he laughed, the noise ringing in Katty's blurry mind as the adrenaline pumped through her veins. Struggling against him with a new vengeance, Katty disregarded the knife at her throat. She didn't care anymore.

They were a struggling mass of limbs and yells as Katty lost any inhibition or restraint that she had left. He screamed when her teeth clamped around his ear and ripped, his arms flailing and punching, desperate to get her off. The other guard punched her in the side of the head, sending her to the ground while the other one yelled angrily. She wasn't sure if the copper taste in her mouth was her blood or his. Katty heard steel scrape against concrete as she tried to steady herself and get to her feet.

Her hand clasped the handle of the knife and Katty flung herself forward, thrusting the blade into the side of the guard's neck, ripping through flesh, muscle and ligaments, the man immediately becoming a gurgling, thrashing mass. The other man let out a startled yell for his friend, and fumbled to remove the gun in the back of his pants. Katty didn't hesitate, and threw the knife. It imbedded in his chest, his hands uselessly grasping at the handle sticking out of his torso, before he fell to the ground gasping for breath.

Katty was shaking like a leaf as she removed the gun from the pants of the man. She cursed to herself when she realized that neither man held a key to the locked door, that it only opened from the outside. Katty stumbled to sit in the corner of the room, crouching down with the gun raised in her hands, hoping that she could shoot whoever came through the door before they noticed her.

She didn't have to wait long before the door swung open. It momentarily blinded Katty, not use to anything but near darkness. Katty struggled to hold the gun steady in the bright light.

"Holy fuckin' shit, Kitty Cat," the familiar, raspy voice said in amazement.

Her eyes were both half swollen shut and her head was spinning from being punched. Katty was dehydrated, hungry, fatigued. Was she delirious or did Merle Dixon have a fucking halo?

Throwing the gun to the side, Katty sobbed and threw herself at Merle, who immediately covered her with a large jacket. She was babbling unintelligibly, none of it meaning anything other than pain.

"Buck up," Merle snapped at her, making Katty freeze. "Gotta getcha outta here, 'fore they come back." Katty's mind snapped to Calum, and she opened her mouth to argue. Merle seemed to foresee what she was concerned with, and tugged at her arm to get her to move. "Yer boy's waitin' outside. He's got yer shit already. Move," he commanded again, his painful grip on Katty's arm the first thing being the first comforting thing to happen in a long time.

He pulled her to run, Katty's legs wobbly and unaccustomed to exertion, so she stumbled a step behind him. They ran down a few barren hallways before Merle directed her up the stairs. He snapped at Katty to 'Hurry tha fuck up' as well as 'Shut up' when they reached outside. It was a blur, she wasn't sure what was happening past escape until she was thrust into the arms of another person. Katty almost panicked until she realized it was Calum, her blood pumping too hard in her ears to comprehend his relieved exclamations at her appearance in front of him.

"Ya hafta leave now," Merle growled at them. "Only a matter o' time 'fore they go ta switch guards or find that ya locked Milton in his room."

Katty could see Calum nod in her peripheral and start to pull her away, but she resisted, her gaze fixed to Merle.

"Come with us," she pleaded, finding her voice. "We'll look for your brother with you." Katty offered the one thing she figured Merle might be swayed by. Merle's eyes softened momentarily in her direction before he shook his head at her, the expression gone from his face.

"No can do, Kitty Cat," Merle reached to ruffle her hair. "Governor won't stop huntin' us if I leave with ya. Daryl's out there 'nd the best chance I have at findin' 'im is right here."

"You'll be okay?" Calum asked dubiously.

"I'll blame ya fuckers when they figure out yall left, not a problem," Merle dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you," she called to him desperately when Calum made a move to pull her away again, through the folded back portion of the wall and out of Woodbury.

Merle shook his head at Katty once again, a toothy, wideset grin on his lined face. "Ya see Daryl, ya send him my way," he instructed, which Katty nodded helplessly at in return. Merle watched as they ducked out from under the folded sheet metal of the wall, and then stuck his head out so he could watch them go.

Katty would miss Merle, in a fucked-up way that she would have trouble explaining to anyone.

"I take back what I said 'fore, Kitty Cat," Merle called to them. Katty glanced over her shoulder at him, confused.

"Ya can hop on Daryl's dick if ya want."

He let out a whoop of laughter at the middle finger that she lifted, in both a response to Merle as well as a goodbye.

* * *

Katty wasn't sure how long she talked, but her voice was horse and her ass was numb. She knew she was repeating details, and that Calum knew some of what happened. She had explained before what the two men had tried to do to her and what Katty had done to them in return; she was covered in blood and the question had been impossible to ignore.

She had stared at her lap for the majority of the explanation, and Katty hesitated before she finally looked up. She could feel the sad look that he was giving her, again, tainted with misdirected guilt.

"I'm sorry, Katty," he muttered at the end. Katty shook her head, frowning at Calum.

"You can't be sorry, you didn't do anything," she said softly in response, reaching out to touch his arm. They had had this conversation multiple times before.

"I was helping Milton with research ideas," Calum insisted. "I told him about the man in France and how they experimented on him. They wouldn't have touched you if it wasn't for me."

Katty sighed. "Calum, they would have done it without you. The Governor spoke with me before they asked you to help Milton." Calum just scowled at his hands, making Katty sigh again. "It's over, Calum. We have to get over it."

Calum roughed his hair up, blinking blearily. "I can't believe that fuckin' happened," he muttered, more to himself than to Katty. "The world is so messed up now."

Katty snorted and fell back in bed, stretching out her limbs. "It's always been messed up, there just aren't any rules now," she explained, staring at the ceiling blankly.

"I wish you would have told me everything sooner," Calum said from his position at the end of the bed.

Katty shrugged. "I wanted to," she replied honestly. "Just hard to figure out how to move past it, I guess." There was a part of her that acknowledged that her chest felt lighter after talking to Calum. She just wasn't sure if it was enough.

"Yeah. Funny that you found Daryl, after everything," Calum commented with a snort.

Katty couldn't help but laugh as well. "Sounds like fate, doesn't it?" Before the apocalypse, she was secretly someone who memorized and clung to astrology, horoscopes, fortunes, anything like that. She knew a lot of people found it juvenile or stupid, but Katty found the idea that there was some overshadowing plan for her in life a comforting idea. She wouldn't have gone to Alexandria or found Calum if Aaron hadn't said Daryl's name offhandedly; there had to be a meaning in there somewhere.

If she hadn't told Milton about her immunity, if she had stayed in Woodbury, Katty might have met Daryl anyways. All the choices that she had taken, from not going to Washington to look for Calum to deciding not to join the group at the quarry those years ago. If done differently, Katty guessed that she would have still crossed paths with him. That's what fate was, wasn't it? Missing opportunities, making wrong choices, walking the other path, and still finding each other?

She heard Calum bark a laugh. "Not this shit again."

Calum didn't get it. That was okay, Katty mused. She couldn't afford to look at life as one giant coincidence. There had to be more to it than that.

Looking over at her friend, who was now snoring and splayed across the end of her bed, Katty smiled to herself.

She wasn't sure if it was from the trick of the early morning hues outside her window that made her feel this way, but Katty felt a little less bruised.

* * *

 **A/N:** I was originally going to extend this chapter, and have some Daryl in it too, but I decided to save it for next time. And we will definitely get to Katty's thoughts about what happened and where she's at. Timeline wise it's been a few days since the incident at Walmart, not too long though. You've waited _so_ patiently, I thought it was time to bring up what happened at Woodbury.

Next chapter will be lighter and a lot longer. Also way more Daryl. Can't wait, haha. I'm already laughing about what I'm going to write.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: "Get the hell out." – "No thank you." – Daryl hated that Kat responded like he had offered her tea or some shit._


	22. Favors

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hey, you! Make sure to peep the question at the end of the chapter and answer it in a review, I'd really like some opinions on it.**

 **Thanks to** **universe without a soul** **,** **Jasamfromthestart** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **KioshiUshima** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **NikChic** **,** **jeanf** **,** **JenTen** **,** **LoveFiction2016** **,** **Suzzie** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **Jean** **,** **Suzzie** **, and** **wedontkilltheliving** **for reviewing and the kind words. :) Thank you to everyone that's reading or adding this story to their alert list.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 22: Favors

Her finger traced through the thin layer of dust slowly, disturbing the even matter on the surface of an old desk. Katty added another curling and swooping line slowly to it's counterpart, finishing off the gesture with a loopy embellishment underneath it. Looking over her completed signature, Katty had the strange realization of how long it had truly been since she had to sign anything; cheques, birthday cards, receipts, drawings.

Katty gazed at her name on the desk, feeling entirely neutral that the autograph hadn't changed in the slightest. Absentmindedly sucking at her teeth, she remembered where she had copied the flourish of a loop underneath her name. Katty had seen a character in an animated movie sign a letter the same way and it had stuck with her.

She'd give anything to sign another birthday card right about now.

A box dropped to the floor none too gracefully beside her, making Katty let out a surprised squeak and whirl around.

"There's just a couple more of these and we're done," Spencer said to her as he swiped his hands across each other in almost a clapping motion, ridding his hands of dust and dirt.

She nodded in response, glad that they were almost done with the task.

"How about I'll grab the rest and you stay up here and organize whatever you can?" he offered and Katty resisted snorting with laughter. Spencer had obviously noticed how weak and slow she had been this morning and decided to take care of the heavy lifting instead of waiting any longer for her.

Katty turned her attention to the medium sized box once Spencer had disappeared down the stairs again. They were moving the majority of Aiden and Reg's belongings up to the attic. Katty thought it was odd that they wanted to mostly empty out Aiden's room, considering they weren't planning on using it for anything else, but Spencer had claimed that Deanna felt _unsettled_ walking by his untouched bedroom every day.

Deanna had said that she was going to help them, but made up an excuse the moment that Katty had walked in the door that she had "records to organize and tapes to archive". Katty didn't believe for a second that the files couldn't wait, but the leader obviously didn't have the heart or stomach or any other organs to rifle through and hide away her loved one's belongings.

That's how politics and leading went after all, didn't it? There was always someone else around to do the shit they didn't want to.

Katty hadn't gone to bed after last night, so she hadn't been moving particularly fast this morning, heavy with fatigue. When she had left her house in the morning, Spencer had caught up to her on her way outside to go for another run. His embarrassment and hesitation when he asked for her assistance pulled at Katty's heartstrings in a momentum that meant she couldn't say no. Especially since she had told him before that if he needed anything, he could ask her.

She slid the cardboard box with her foot along the floor, placing it with the other containers of varied size. Spencer had been being nice when he said she could stay up here; there wasn't much to organize. It wasn't like they were unloading all the boxes and recreating Aiden's room or setting up Reg's nautical trinkets. Katty just moved their belongings around best she could so that no one would trip over them if they were walking around in the dark.

The last thing Spencer brought up was Aiden's music collection, which he put on top of the pile of boxes. They were both silent for a while, just staring at the arrangement of shit that belonged to dead people. It would probably never get used or even looked at again, so she figured that Spencer might want a minute alone.

She cleared her throat. "I'm going to head down to the pantry, gotta pick up some stuff," she motioned over her shoulder with her thumb, even though Spencer wasn't looking at her. "Wanna come?" Katty added as an afterthought, wondering if he wanted to get away from the house for a while.

He shrugged, his gaze still running over the boxes. "I don't really need anything, but I'll walk down with you."

Katty resisted cringing that he had actually taken her up on her offer. Hopefully it wouldn't be awkward; she hadn't spent a lot of time with Spencer past cordial greetings when she worked with Deanna.

They made their way down to the pantry, and Katty could easily say it hadn't been awkward. She had rambled entirely too much for there to be any stretches of silence between them. Spencer had just nodded politely, sending the odd, amused look her way. It was obvious to them both that she had been rambling, but he seemed to appreciate that he didn't need to do most of the talking.

Katty doubted that he was even listening to her.

"I'll carry it for you," Spencer offered, grabbing the basket from her before Katty had a chance to decline. It only had a few cans and packages of oat porridge in it, so should would have been more than capable of carrying it back, but Katty let it go. He was probably just looking for more ways to prolong going back to the Monroe house, and Katty didn't want to be the one to deprive him of that. She wondered briefly in the back of her mind if this was bordering on date-like or flirting, but Katty pushed it aside. She hadn't gotten any vibes like that from Spencer yet, and coupled with how she caught him looking at Rosita earlier when they passed by, Katty doubted his intentions were anything other than friendly.

"Thanks, Spence," she said lightly and grabbed the handle from Spencer when they stood on the curb outside Katty's house. He immediately shook his head.

"No, I should be thanking you," his words stumbled out hurriedly. "So – uh – thanks," Katty snorted as the taller man pulled her into a short hug that leaned towards uncomfortable, considering she was holding a basket in her hands.

When Spencer pulled away, Katty saw him look at something over her shoulder before quickly stepping away from her. "See you later. Thank you again, Katty," he called, walking backwards a few steps with a small wave.

"Anytime," she smiled and he nodded before turning around and retreating. Katty watched him for a few seconds, hoping that he and Deanna could begin to heal now that Aiden and Reg weren't staring them in the face every day.

She sighed and turned around, her eyes immediately jumping to Daryl, standing on the veranda. He was leant against one of the wooden support beams of the porch, and watching her with a tight lipped expression.

Ah. So _that_ had been why Spencer kept looking over her shoulder. Katty bit the inside of her cheeks, not enjoying the look that Daryl was giving her.

She tried to ignore how her heart fluttered nervously as she walked towards him. They hadn't talked much since Walmart, since it had become more – Katty cringed at the word _official_ – let's say, agreed on what they were. Even though it didn't have a name and Katty wasn't sure she'd ever call him her boyfriend to his face. Katty almost laughed out loud at the mental picture of Daryl grouching at her that he 'ain't her damn boyfriend'.

She had been shocked at the time when Daryl had conceded and gone along with her admittance. Even more shocked that she had been the one to finally say what she wanted. When Daryl had asked her what she wanted, Katty couldn't surmise her feelings any other way. She wanted a lot of things, out of herself, out of life, but from Daryl? Katty only wanted him. It had been that way for a while, Katty had trouble convincing herself otherwise, even though she had definitely tried.

There were too many paths, too many ways it could go wrong, too many obstacles and too many opportunities for failure. She had done a great deal of thinking in the time that she had spent avoiding Daryl and most of Alexandria. It was far too difficult to ignore the twist and flip of her stomach when she saw him or how her eyes always found him in a room or how easily she picked up on any ministrations he exhibited, no matter how minute.

Like how even though his hands were stuffed into his pockets, Katty could tell Daryl was clenching and unclenching his fists. In hindsight, probably not a good sign.

"Hey," she said casually, approaching the intense man with what she hoped was a disarming smile.

"Since when do ya talk ta _Spence_?" Katty arched a brow at the forgotten greeting, as well at the irritable tone in his voice. She didn't miss how he hissed out the nickname that she had called him earlier.

Katty glanced over her shoulder in the direction that Spencer had left, "He just asked for some help with moving Reg and Aiden's stuff this morning." She supplied, not feeling the need to explain that they hadn't really talked much past that.

Daryl snorted, "Yeah, 'm sure he couldn't have moved boxes on his own," he drawled sarcastically, following behind Katty into the house.

"I told him to ask," Katty called over her shoulder, sending a quick, annoyed look his way. She didn't understand his sudden attitude change with her, or why Daryl disliked Spencer now. He hadn't seemed to mind the man before.

"Suppose ya told him ta be all over ya, too?" he snipped at her, fixing Katty with a solid glare.

She frowned at him in return. Was he serious? "He was just thanking me –"

Daryl scoffed, interrupting Katty effectively. "'Nd carryin' yer damn groceries home? What a perfect date," he mocked, leaning into Katty's face while he seethed.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?" Katty snapped at him, completely fed up with Daryl's attitude change already.

"Nothin'!" he threw his hands up, exasperated, and then started stomping away. "It doesn't fuckin' matter," Daryl grumbled to himself as he left in a bitchy huff.

"No, it _does_ matter, Daryl," Katty snapped, weaving her way around his retreating steps and pressing he back against the closed front door to stop him from leaving. Was this their first fight? Could Daryl being pissy constitute as a fight?

"I said drop it," he hissed into her face, and Katty heard him grab the doorknob. "Get outta tha way," he snapped, waving at Katty in a dismissive motion.

Katty gaped at him, disbelieving that he was being so difficult. How hard was it to just say what was bothering him, instead of just dancing around it and getting angry when she didn't figure it out? Stepping to the side, Daryl immediately flung the door open and stomped out without so much as another glance at her.

She didn't bother to look after him and watch him leave; she knew she'd have watched him yearningly. Katty was annoyed, sure, she didn't deserve to be spoken to like that when she hadn't done anything, but she was more confused than annoyed. And they hadn't spoken or even really seen each other since their talk in the car on the way back from Walmart.

Katty sighed loudly, roughing her hand across her face before she turned and walked back to the kitchen.

The appearance of Heath, leaned casually against the island in the kitchen, crumpling the wrapper and eating a protein bar, greeted her.

"Oh. Mornin', Heath," she said, feeling colour flare up in her cheeks that he had definitely heard them arguing.

Heath cleared his throat, holding the protein bar away from his face and regarding it interestedly. "Ah, the jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves," he spoke to the bar with a pensive look on his face, and Katty's lips quirked, imagining the man holding a skull instead.

"What?" she laughed, quirking an eyebrow in Heath's direction.

"William Penn," Heath clarified absently, taking another bite out of the protein bar.

"You think Daryl's jealous?"

Heath snorted, "Duh."

Katty filled a glass with water and swirled it around, thinking to herself. She supposed that was plausible. She didn't entirely understand it, considering that Spencer had _nothing_ on Daryl, at least to her, but it would explain Daryl's behavior. She snorted to herself. The man had issues, that was for sure.

The way that she saw it, Katty had two choices. Ignore the spat and hope that they could move past it, or confront it directly and move on that way. Katty couldn't keep the stupid grin off her face, knowing immediately what she was about to do. In a way, it was amusing. Daryl had no problem yelling at people, fighting, any _other_ form of confrontation, but relationship shit, he was obviously not used to.

Don't get her wrong, Katty wouldn't stand for this shit repeatedly; petty arguments exhausted her. She didn't find jealousy endearing, and wanted to just plainly tell him to cut the shit, but that probably wouldn't go over well with him.

She'd just have to find another way.

* * *

Katty briefly looked around for Daryl, but decided that he was probably pouting in the main groups house. She didn't want to admit that she had memorized where Daryl usually was, and refrained from checking Aaron and Eric's garage, at least to save herself _some_ embarrassment.

Katty didn't bother to knock, just opened the front door. She figured she was past that with them at this point. The house seemed quiet; no one seemed to be here, which Katty was grateful for. If this ended in another argument, it'd be easier if no one else was here. It was the middle of the day; everyone was probably still doing their daily routine, tasks, jobs for the day.

Walking down the hallway, Katty paused when the door to the first floor bathroom opened and Maggie and Glenn appeared. The three of them stared at each other, and Katty couldn't help but notice that everyone had a look on their face like they had been caught doing something.

"Oh, hi, Katty," Glenn stammered, which made her eyebrows raise. What was with the nervous tone?

"Were you two shagging in the bathroom or something?" she asked bluntly, expecting their answer. Neither looked particularly dishevelled or flushed, other than the pink tinge to Maggie's cheeks.

Glenn snorted, "No," he denied immediately. "The other house is pretty busy, so we came over here."

Katty pulled a face. "You two piss together too?"

Maggie laughed, "No, idiot. Just – talking," Katty didn't miss the sparkle in her eye or how she shuffled something around behind her back. She glanced down at where Maggie's hands were hidden behind her back and Glenn moved half a step more in front of his wife.

"Daryl's in his room," he chimed, his lips curling into a knowing smile.

Katty blanched, immediately forgetting whatever Maggie was hiding. Was she really that obvious?

"Maybe I'm here to visit Rick and Judith," Katty deflected innocently, trying to stop the heat from travelling up her face.

They both mirrored an expression that didn't need words to be able to call her out on her lie.

"Better make it fast. Everyone is coming by later," Maggie grinned at her.

Katty swore under her breath and left without a word, walking down the hall to where Daryl's room was. The door was ajar, so Katty knocked as she pushed it open.

* * *

Daryl whirled around at the sudden knock, and he instinctually reached towards his crossbow, which was propped behind him against his bed. He paused when his eyes landed on Kat's slim figure, standing in his doorway.

Damnit.

He had been in the middle of changing when she had walked in, catching him without a shirt. Daryl hadn't expected her to follow him so soon after. He straightened up and ran his eyes along her face, trying to gauge what he was going to be in for. Strangely enough, she didn't seem pissed. He wondered if it was a trick.

After he had left, sufficiently pissed off, his anger towards Kat had quickly melted into a simmer. Daryl was definitely still pissed at the Monroe boy; where the hell had he gotten the idea that it was alright to hang all over Kat? He couldn't justify being angry at her for moving boxes; he could, however, be pissed off at the fact that she couldn't see that the kid was just trying to fuck her.

She wasn't looking at his face anymore, Daryl realized as his anger flared again. Kat was looking unabashedly at his chest, her eyes trailing over the scarring on his chest. He didn't have time to examine her facial expression, didn't want to wait for the disgust to cross her face – or worse, pity.

"Git the hell out," he hissed at her, narrowing his eyes in her direction. He refused to grab his shirt off the bed at this point; Daryl didn't want to appear like he was embarrassed. He wasn't ashamed of the discolored scars crisscrossing across his chest and back. It just wasn't any of Kat's goddamn business. He didn't want questions, didn't want sad looks and sure as hell didn't want her staring any longer.

They had fucked twice, both times Daryl had effectively kept his clothes on. Daryl, however, had practically seen every inch of Kat. Every perfect, unblemished, untarnished inch of her. He hadn't extensively studied and looked over her, but with girls like Kat, it was obvious. They didn't have scars like him.

And now she knew how different they really were.

Kat hadn't moved, hadn't looked up at his face to acknowledge that he had said anything, and it pissed him off. Her fuckin' weird, different colored eyes burnt into his skin uncomfortably.

"Get the hell out," he hissed again, enunciating each word pointedly.

Kat glanced up at him finally, and he forced himself to lock eyes with her, though he desperately wanted to look away. There wasn't a trace of pity or sadness on her face. She hid it well, he thought to himself bitterly. Was she good at hiding other shit?

She took a step forward into his room, and Daryl furrowed his brow at her, not understanding why she hadn't snapped something at him in return and left.

"No thank you," she replied lightly, and Daryl's furrowed brow turned into a scowl. She nudged the door shut with her foot and reached behind herself to push the lock in on the handle, all without turning away from him.

Daryl hated that Kat responded like he had offered her tea or some shit.

"Ya hard or hearin' or just dumb?" he asked callously, hoping that being rude would make Kat leave.

He shuffled uncomfortably under her stare when she just calmly slid her eyes back to his chest once more. Daryl let out an irritated huff and turned sideways so that he could grab his shirt and vest off of the bed. He tried not to let her get a look at his back, especially since it was worse. Ignoring that he could feel her eyes travelling over the exposed side of his back, Daryl quickly grabbed the button up and shoved each arm through it. Scowling downwards, he hurriedly and angrily started to button the shirt.

"Can't even have a goddamn minute of privacy in my own – " his words died in his throat when he realized Kat had silently moved in front of him, and lightly pushed his hands away from the buttons that Daryl had started to do up improperly and mismatched.

"Stop," she murmured in that _damn_ accent, the word making his stomach lurch. He felt frozen in his own skin, and stiffened when she leaned forward and kissed the corner of his jaw. Kat dropped her hands from his wrists, and he watched her interestedly. She reached down and Daryl heard her undo her pants and saw Kat begin to shove them down her legs. Was this her fucked up way of saying that she didn't care, or had gotten over how rude he had been to her earlier? With sex?

He flinched when she grabbed his hand once again and placed it on her hip. Daryl frowned when the pads of his fingers slid over an uneven patch of skin, and he noticed with an odd thought that it was a degree hotter than the surrounding smooth surface of her body.

Inclining his head downward, he stared at where his hand was. A large, scarred patch of skin. It stuck out oddly against the tan, fleshy tone of the rest of Kat. He wondered how he hadn't noticed it before, and thought back to when his eyes had glanced down to a patch on her hip previously, when she had been greeting Calum for the first time. It was large, slightly bumpy, uneven in color and texture; it was an ugly scar. The shape was strange, and Daryl stared at it, trying to place it. It was almost a complete, oblong circle, with jagged, uneven punctures throughout the perimeter. Almost like something had taken a bite out of her?

"I won't ask if you won't ask."

His eyes snapped back up to her face at the quiet, raspy tone. She was watching him watch her, her eyes searching his. Kat's tone held a pleading, underlying edge to it, and he immediately wanted to find out why.

The questions burned his throat, and they were both quiet, just staring each other. Who had hurt her like that? How long ago? What happened? He swallowed them all down like acidic bile, and resisted voicing any of them. He wasn't prepared to answer any questions about his, so how could he expect her to in return.

He nodded once, and watched as Kat seemed to deflate slightly with relief.

Daryl decided then that he would find out what happened one way or another, one day.

"You over your jealous fit from earlier?" Kat purred at him, her lips curling as she stared up at him.

Daryl scowled. "Dunno whatchyer talkin' 'bout," he grumped and went to take a step away from her once again.

Kat immediately curled her cold fingers around the top of his pants, her Cheshire grin pulling Daryl back towards her. "So you didn't get all cranky when Spencer thanked me for doing him a favor?"

Daryl scowled at the memory of Spencer hugging Kat. "Shouldn't be doin' him any favors," he grumbled.

He inhaled sharply when her hand cupped the front of his pants. "What, you're the only one I'm allowed to do favors for?" her tone was teasing.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "That's what ya said, Kat." He muttered, referring to the other day, and then swatted her hand away from his crotch. Rick would be back any minute; he didn't have time for this shit.

She laughed as she reached up and grabbed him on either side of his face, and pulled him so that their foreheads touched. Daryl immediately stiffened, not used to or comfortable with the intimate proximity.

"What I remember saying is that I want _you_ ," Kat spoke lowly, her breath whispering across his face. Daryl swallowed thickly. "Not Spencer," she continued. "I want you, you git."

He didn't care that she had called him a git or wonder what the hell it meant. Daryl slid his hands down to her hips once again, while Kat tipped her head up, capturing his lips in a kiss. It was short, and sweet, and Kat pulled back when Daryl's hands toyed with the edge of her underwear.

She seemed to freeze, her eyes trailing away from him as her brow creased in thought.

"What?" he questioned when he saw her counting something on her fingers silently.

"Uh – nothing," she shook her head and smiled weakly at him.

Daryl watched as Kat pulled her pants back up and over her hips, concealing the scar once again. He was about to question her sudden hesitance further, when Kat's hands went down to the bottom of his shirt. Deciding to remain silent, her smaller hands undid the few buttons at the bottom that he had managed to throw together, and she trailed her hands down his stomach. Daryl didn't like that he was getting used to how often his stomach would flip around her.

Her soft hands, free from calluses or any wear and tear, unlike his, felt strange on his skin, but not unpleasant. Kat leaned forward again and pressed her hot mouth to his jaw line, trailing down his neck and back up to Daryl's ear. Daryl tried and failed to keep his breath from shaking.

"How about I even the score and do you a favor, then?" she murmured near his ear. Daryl's throat was dry, his mind buzzed as he tried to think of something to say that wasn't unintelligible. Before he could, Kat had deftly undone his belt and pants and shoved them halfway down his thighs.

"Sit down," she ordered playfully, giving him a short shove. Daryl half stumbled back, his knees catching the side of his bed, and he promptly sat down. He didn't like being ordered around or not entirely being in control, but Daryl's mind was blank, so he let Kat get away with it this time.

She walked forward, situating herself between Daryl's legs. The other times, it had been rushed and heated and nothing but fire between them, so he hadn't had time to think about it. The change in pace to a slower, more playful one, coupled with the unexplored territory, made Daryl nervous.

His hesitation was cut short when Kat's mouth found his once again, sucking at his bottom lip briefly before slowly moving back. Daryl's eyes fluttered open when he felt her move, trailing her hands down his front once more as she kneeled in front of him.

Stop thinking," she said to him softly, looking at him from her position on the hardwood floor in front of him. "Just relax." Daryl didn't want to point out that his problem was that he _couldn't_ think straight or sometimes at all when it came to Kat.

Kat watched him for a few more seconds that felt like hours to Daryl, before a grin quirked on her face and she shoved him backward onto the bed with a laugh. Daryl grunted and opened his mouth to tell Kat off with a few expletives, before he had to stifle a groan as Kat quickly pulled him out, wrapping her hand around him. He was always half hard from seeing Kat kneeling in front of him, so she worked him with her hand slowly, pumping him evenly.

Daryl pushed himself up to lean on his elbows. Kat glanced up at him quickly before she brushed her hair over one shoulder and leaned forward. "Fuck," he swore lowly when he felt her hot breath on him and the ends of her hair tickling his thighs. Daryl shut his eyes tightly, trying now to blow it before she even fuckin' did anything.

His head lolled back and Daryl let out a low groan when he felt her mouth surround him, his fists clenching beside his body. Gaining the nerve to open his eyes, he just about lost it at the image of Kat, kneeled in front of him, her plump, soft lips wrapped around his dick.

He almost forgot how good it felt, becoming encased in how erotic it was to watch her. Her cheeks hollowed as Kat bobbed up and down with her head, her tongue sliding around him. She looked up at him as she forced as much of him as she could into her mouth, and Daryl's teeth clenched, hissing at the feeling of his cock at the back of Kat's throat.

"Christ," he bit out, fully sitting up and roughly tangling his hand into her brown hair. Wrapping the locks around his hand, Daryl tugged harshly, not quite sure if he was pulling her away or closer to him.

Kat moaned at the shock of slight pain, the vibration reverberating through him and making Daryl swear. Her hand came up to cup and massage his balls, and Daryl felt them tighten with his nearing release.

A knock at the door startled Daryl out of his reverie, and he snapped to attention, panic filling his veins like cold water being dumped on him. Kat's mouth on him froze as well, but she didn't remove him from her mouth.

"Hey Daryl, you comin'?" Rick's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the wooden door. Thank fuck Kat had locked the door.

Daryl disentangled his hand from Kat's hair, pulling her away slightly while he was at it.

"What?" he called, wincing at the slightly strangled tone to his voice. He hissed and batted Kat away when he felt her slide her tongue around him once again, circling his tip lazily. She hummed a quiet laugh around him and Daryl tensed his jaw, focussing on not letting out any suspect noises.

"Just lettin' you know we're back. Waitin' for Michonne and a few other people and then we'll talk about the run, yeah?"

There were a few beats of silence when Daryl almost forgot to reply. It was difficult to concentrate on anything other than the beautiful women between his knees, his eyes almost rolling back when she pushed all of him into her mouth and started to bob quickly. Daryl fisted her hair again and tugged Kat back, watching as a trail of saliva connected the tip of his dick to her mouth. God, she was so fucking sexy.

Daryl cleared his throat, "Alright, be out in a sec," he called to Rick. After they heard his footsteps retreat, Kat let out a snort.

"That all it takes? A second?" she licked her lips with an amused look. Daryl rolled his eyes, jerking her head back towards him.

"Shut up," he snapped at her, though he felt a smile threatening to break through. Fuckin' smart ass.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up and suck my cock, I get it," Kat flicked the inside of Daryl's thigh and laughed when he flinched, engulfing him again when he glowered at her.

She placed a hand on his hip to stop his hips from jerking too hard, and Daryl felt himself tense as he neared his end quickly. He resisted completely fucking her face and tugged her hair firmly to push himself deep down her throat. Kat's throat tightened around him when she gagged at the full feeling, the contractions pushing him over the edge. He released and shot into her mouth and throat, holding her head in place as he fully emptied himself. Kat gagged again, and Daryl groaned at the feeling of her desperately trying to swallow around him. A small amount bubbled out of the corner of her mouth as he watched, knowing that the vision below him was way hotter than any porno he had seen.

Kat swirled her tongue around him once more before pulling away from him, leaning back and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Arsehole," she laughed, while Daryl tucked himself back into his pants and stood up to button them. "Could've warned me." Her eyes were slightly red, her hair fucked up. She sat there, combing it roughly with her fingers to attempt to settle it.

He tossed a smirk her way, offering a hand to help her up. "Sorry," he shrugged, appearing unconcerned. In actuality, he was slightly worried that he had taken it too far, but he had lost it near the end and couldn't stop himself. Kat took the hand that he reached out and slapped his exposed chest in a playful manner after she stood up. Daryl snorted, assuming from the action that she wasn't actually mad.

Kat reached forward, quietly doing up the buttons on his shirt without prompting. Daryl thought it was weird, but didn't say anything. He couldn't remember ever having someone dress him, but figured Kat might be more adept at doing it than he would be in the moment. He felt clumsy and sluggish now and just basically wanted a nap, but had to go talk to Rick and everyone else.

He slung his vest on when Kat finished, and started walking towards the door to leave. When Daryl noticed that Kat wasn't following him, he paused, his hand on the handle. She was glancing hesitantly between the door and his window, and Daryl quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Should I go out the window?"

The question made him let out a bark of laughter, and he half considered agreeing, if only to see her try to do it. If she had asked at another time, he may have said yes. But in the minutes after release, when he was still coated with bliss and calm, Daryl didn't give a shit if anyone made comments or assumptions.

"Nah, c'mon," he waved her over, "Just ignore 'em," Kat only momentarily paused before she grinned at him, following him out the door.

Daryl regretted his decision the moment that the many pairs of eyes landed on himself and Kat when they appeared in the main room. Daryl's hands stuffed into his pockets, feeling entirely uncomfortable.

"So you found Daryl," Maggie called out to Katty, sounding amused. Daryl wondered who would be the first one to tell him off if he lit a cigarette in the house.

"Yup," Kat quipped back, sounding dismissive, but Daryl could see the pretty pink color flushing her cheeks. He kept the smirk off his face, knowing everyone was watching their expressions carefully.

"We're happy you came," Abraham said loudly to Daryl, who cringed at the double-entendre. Kat, however, couldn't contain her laugh and ducked her head, snorting and chortling to herself. Daryl scowled over at her.

Real subtle.

"Feel free to stay, Katty. We're just talking about what's goin' to happen with the supply run," Rick invited, and Daryl refused to look at either him or Carol. He could hear the laughter in Rick's voice, and feel the bemused expression she was sending them.

Daryl was never going to hear the end of this.

Kat cleared her throat, her laughs finally settling. "Thanks, but I actually have to go grab something that I forgot from the infirmary, so I'm going to head out." Daryl sent a questioning look her way but she ignored it, nudging him lightly with her elbow. "See ya later. Bye, guys," she directed to the full house, before weaving her way through everyone, and disappearing out the door.

Leaving Daryl to fend for himself with the wolves. Great.

At least it was one hell of a _favor_ , he supposed.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I was looking through the Negan filter, and was surprised that there wasn't a ton of stories with him. So I have a question for you all.

Question: Would anyone be interested in reading a Negan story? I've started fleshing one out and I'm actually surprisingly into the idea, though I have no fucking clue if I could do him justice. It's another OC story, rated M for _all_ the same reasons that this story is. It definitely wouldn't be a typical romance story though, and would be pretty dysfunctional.

But definitely let me know if you'd be interested in reading it!

-Submechanophobia.

* * *

 _Next Time: He was fucking livid. How could she keep something like this from him?_


	23. Similes

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hello! If you haven't already, please let me know in a review if you'd be interested in a Negan story. Couple vague details about it at the end of the last chapter. So far most people have said yes to it, but I'm still on the fence about it, so definitely put your two cents in a review. :)**

 **Thank you to** **Jasamfromthestart** **,** **Bub** **,** **BloodyKirai** **,** **Lilsuccubus** **,** **sillygabby** **,** **melissawtf** **,** **norcalpc** **,** **haloveangence** **,** **KioshiUshima** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **Lorento** **,** **Charlie2193** **,** **Nirvana14** **,** **JenTen** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **Bactrian C** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **Short But Deadly** **,** **addicted2memories** **,** **Suzzie** **,** **Jean** **,** **MicroSpider** **,** **Juniper** **,** **LoveFiction2016** **,** **Faelyght** **,** **Magpies** **,** **Lisieux Selwyn** **,** **Comingsummers** **,** **sue92178** **,** **jeanf** **and** **Lilmonkey1507** **for leaving reviews, I love reading them! Thanks for all the new people that have added this to any of the alerts or favourites.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 23: Similes

Katty didn't think that anything had ever made her heart clench as hard or her stomach drop to her arse as fast as when she saw the two, skinny, pink lines on the pregnancy test. And judging by the little legend beside the tiny screen, that meant positive.

Positive.

Fuck Harry Potter, fuck wands, this bloody piss stick had the power to make or break lives.

Her hands quivered as she stared at the plastic piece of shit, and Katty shook it roughly, like it was a Magic 8 Ball and would show a different answer if you weren't sure you liked the first one.

"It's not going to change, Katty," Maggie said softly, and Katty could feel, rather than see, that Maggie was wringing her hands together nervously. Probably waiting for a reaction out of her that wasn't slack-jawed or mute.

What _was_ her reaction? Did she deserve to have one just yet? Katty's mind was in overdrive, but somehow only sounded like a million bees, bouncing and running into each other, each a thought that was fighting to vocalize itself.

"Say somethin'," Maggie whispered urgently, her tone dancing around a pleading edge.

"Urrghnn," was the philosophic declaration that burst forth, Katty's tongue rolling uselessly and failing to form an intelligible response.

This was it. Her brain had officially melted. It was goo.

Maggie let out a noise that was midway between a giggle and a sob and Katty thought that that represented how she felt, maybe. Maybe add some screaming to the mixture and _that_ was how she felt.

Maybe.

Carrying a child a few years ago, with modern technology and qualified doctors and tests and facilities, was difficult. Being pregnant in the apocalypse, that was a bloody _nightmare_. She was scared. There were so many things that could go wrong, and there probably wouldn't be any way of knowing anything until it was born. After that, it would just get harder. Her palms were sweaty and Katty shakily placed the test onto the counter as her mind ran through all the possible, horrific hypothetical scenarios that carrying an infant in a cruel world could have.

And it was, indeed, cruel.

Her eyes scrunched together and Katty rubbed roughly at her lids, causing colored dots to appear in the otherwise dark scene before her.

Did she have the right to think such awful things?

"Say somethin'," Maggie repeated, her southern twang wrapping prettily around the words. The whisper was gone, the intonation more urgent than before.

Rick had a baby. He managed, and that was before the group had made it to Alexandria. Katty never asked anyone what happened to Judith's mother; it wasn't her place, wasn't her business, and she wasn't sure she wanted the answer. But Judith was alive and healthy, and Katty knew that it had a lot to do with the tight knit group of people that surrounded her.

It was different, maybe. They had Alexandria, they had safety and walls and Denise in the infirmary and they had possibilities now.

Maybe, maybe there was a future.

Katty's lip trembled as a certain boy, stolen away, echoed in her mind.

" _This is the beginning_."

Katty lurched forward and grabbed Maggie. She was right; a noise halfway between a giggle and a sob suited it perfectly, and Katty couldn't help but let one escape as well as she clung to her friend. They held each other, and it felt like two rubber bands, stretched and taut and ready to snap. Her hands clenched in Maggie's shirt at her back and Katty knew her knuckles were probably white and Maggie was probably uncomfortable and Katty _definitely_ didn't care about that right now.

"Congrats, Mags."

Maggie sniffed, and then pulled back. "Your turn," she grimaced at Katty.

* * *

Katty's period was late.

She realized it the moment that Daryl was made a move to undress her, and Katty immediately knew she had to go to the infirmary for a test.

She wasn't _sure_ it was late, she didn't exactly keep track of it in the apocalypse, but she just had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. It had been a while, maybe a couple weeks before Aaron had convinced her to go back to Alexandria with him. Katty's period had never been regular. She lost it easily from stress before the end of the world, and when there was dead people walking, it was even less regular.

They had been fucking morons.

 _Twice_. Twice they had fucked and neither of them had thought of protection, or even pulling out. Katty wanted to rip her hair out that they had acted like stupid, careless teenagers, not responsible in the slightest.

Needless to say, it had killed her lady boner in the moment that was tipping towards heated, and Katty had pulled her pants up faster than when she had been 14 and a random stranger had caught her pissing in the woods when she was camping.

So she gave Daryl a blowjob instead. Blowjobs didn't get people pregnant.

Katty figured that Daryl knew something was up; he had given her an inquisitive look when she said she had forgotten something at the infirmary. He didn't need to know, she figured. It would made him angry or make him panic, and Katty really didn't need that shit right now. She was angry and panicky enough without the pissy redneck adding to it. Katty wasn't sure what she would tell him or do if she was pregnant. Her jaw grated as she resisted planning out a dialogue to try to calm down what would indefinitely be Daryl exploding and tearing up Alexandria. There wasn't any point until she knew for sure.

She fiddled with some string in her pocket nervously as she approached the infirmary. Maybe if it hadn't been for the dead walking around, the impending supply run that she was supposed to be apart of, the uncertain current leadership between Rick and Deanna, the fact that her relationship with Daryl was both new and not entirely stable, and all around stressful life situation, Katty might have told him about it. Daryl definitely had a lot on his plate without her ovaries adding to it.

Or that's what she told herself. Underneath the surface, Katty knew a large part of it was that she both hated confrontation and didn't want to admit how scared she was in that moment.

The door to the infirmary had never felt as heavy as in that moment, and she opened it quietly, praying that it wouldn't suddenly develop a creek.

Denise wasn't here. Katty hadn't met her yet, but Deanna had informed her that the woman had reluctantly agreed to act as the doctor for Alexandria. The door had been unlocked, so Katty assumed that Denise was around, maybe she had left to get food?

Walking lightly and quietly into the back room, she immediately scanned the shelves for what she was looking for. Back when she first had gotten here, she had helped organize, record and put away a lot of the supplies in the infirmary, so Katty knew that they had some.

She looked around for Plan B, though she figured it was too late for that anyways, and gave up quickly when it didn't jump out at her. She had taken it once when she was seventeen, and the nurse had told her that every day that passed, it would go down in effectiveness.

The bring pink box caught her eye, and Katty grabbed the First Response™ box, flipping it around to look at the back. It hadn't been that long since the first time that she and Daryl had had sex, and Katty wasn't sure if she should wait a week or two or just take it. There were a few left, she supposed as she glanced back towards the shelf. It would ease her anxiety if the test said negative, and Katty could always take another one in a few weeks to double check.

She cringed. That would be a waste of resources, though. Her hands hesitated, flipping the box around as Katty thought about what she should do.

"Uh, hi, can I help you?"

Katty jumped and practically threw the pink box, uselessly fumbling it before the box slipped and bounced across the floor as she whipped around.

The woman, with a ponytail and glasses and a kind face, moved her apprehensive gaze from Katty to the box that was now at her feet.

Fuck me, Katty groaned internally.

"Sorry, no one was here so I just helped myself," Katty answered when she found her voice, shrugging with an apologetic look. This must be Denise.

"You're Katty?" she asked. Katty's eyebrows raised in surprise at the guess, and Denise continued. "I'm Denise. Maggie pointed you out to me when she came by yesterday and you were walking past."

Katty couldn't think of anything more uncomfortable than Denise introducing herself while the pregnancy test box lay at her feet.

"Nice to meet you," she chirped, hoping that it didn't sound as forced as it felt.

Denise crouched down quickly and grabbed the obnoxiously bright box from the ground. "Did Maggie need another one?" she asked casually, holding the box out to her.

Katty froze, unable to think of a response. What? Maggie?

Denise noticed her hesitance, and waved a hand at her lackadaisically. "No, it's fine, I told her she should have grabbed two to be sure. Sometimes the second line is really faint and it's hard to tell."

What the fuck?

Katty's heart started to pound rapidly as she took the box from Denise with a nervous smile. "Yeah," she agreed, seeing her out and using it. "I said I'd pop by and grab it on my way back."

"Okay," the female said with a shrug. "Anything else you needed?"

"No," Katty stammered, and immediately started to make her way towards the door. Her mind was in overdrive now, and she suddenly felt claustrophobic in the medical unit. First her own pregnancy scare, now Maggie's?

Katty ignored the curious, concerned look that Denise was shooting her as she all but stumbled and ran out the door, quickly shoving the pink box under her shirt.

She had the sarcastic thought in the back of her mind that, hey, at least her and Maggie's kids would be the same age and would wind up being friends. Two friends-turned-mother's dream, it drawled lazily as she beelined back towards her house.

Katty wasn't sure if she felt entitled to an answer from Maggie, or if she just wanted some support from someone who might be feeling the same anxiety that she was. She contemplated just going to the second house and slapping Maggie with the pregnancy test box, but decided against it, in case there were other people there, which there likely was.

She looked around in surprise, not realizing that she had already made it to her house and was standing in the kitchen. The box felt like it weighed a ton, and Katty quickly placed it on the kitchen island, in front of where she decided to sit.

Her stomach twisted and turned uncomfortably, and Katty tried to ignore the nausea. Did morning sickness ever happen not in the morning?

Internal ramblings that didn't mean anything more than anxiety took over, and Katty sat motionless, staring at the box that looked too happy for how she felt.

"You stare at it any longer, you'll burn a hole in it," the voice, though soft, made Katty jump.

"This your pregnant-spidey senses tingling or some shit?" she droned at Maggie before Katty found her common sense to stop herself. She regretted it immediately when Maggie's face turned surprised and sheepish.

"How'd you know?"

Katty sniffed. "Denise said you were by and grabbed a test."

"I was comin' over to tell you," Maggie murmured, embarrassed, and Katty's heart wrenched.

"Fuck, Mags, I'm sorry," she groaned, "I ruined that for you. Damnit," Katty hissed her herself. She felt entirely selfish, taking away Maggie's news from her. Just because she felt shitty that she had fucked up, now Katty had taken it out on someone else.

"No, no, it's fine," the concerned look was back on Maggie's face. "I was just comin' to check on you since you hurried out and said you were going to the infirmary. Thought I'd tell you first, you know?" Katty's stomach dropped further; the fact that Maggie wanted to tell Katty first made her feel even more guilty that she had spoiled it.

"Let's pretend I don't know," she declared, and then got up and walked over to the sink, turning the faucet on. Katty busied herself and started to wash her hands for no reason.

There was no movement or sound for a stretch, and Katty looked over her shoulder at Maggie. The other woman had an eyebrow cocked, and stared at Katty as if she had lost her mind.

"Oh, Maggie, I didn't see you there," Katty exclaimed, overdramatically and unconvincingly. "What a pleasant surprise."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Maggie asked, her lips twitching as she stared at Katty, still not getting it.

Katty scowled at her, and turned back towards the sink. "We're roleplaying. I'm sure you've done this before with Glenn, seeing as how you're pregnant."

Maggie made a strange choking noise, and Katty winced when something hit her in the side of the head and fell to the floor. Sending an annoyed look Maggie's way, Katty glanced at the floor.

It was her turn to choke on her spit when she saw the white pregnancy test stick laying on the ground, face down.

"You _did not_ just hit me in the head with that," she stared at Maggie, slack jawed. "Mags, you _pissed_ on it."

"Oh, Katty, fancy seeing you here!" Maggie's tune changed with a flourish of her hand. "It seems that I have dropped something. Would you be a dear and help me pick it up?"

Katty snorted and rolled her eyes, crouching quickly to pick up the slab of plastic.

When she flipped it over and saw the two pink lines, Katty's breath caught in her throat. It was one thing to guess that Maggie was pregnant or trying, but to actually _see_ a positive test, it made her throat constrict and all the words and snappy comments die before they reached her mouth.

What was she supposed to say?

* * *

So, now it was her turn.

Maggie had insisted that for moral support, she had to be in the bathroom with her while Katty tried to pee on a stick. She had then reinforced her thesis with the copious movies Maggie had seen with women taking pregnancy tests; you weren't supposed to take it alone, she had explained.

Katty grumbled, but was secretly glad that Maggie was there.

Maggie hadn't berated her, scolded her, or given her any lecture about how she should have been more careful. She hadn't asked any details about her and Daryl, hadn't made any snarky comments or asked her what she was going to do if she was pregnant. She had simply chattered to her aimlessly while Katty peed, and laughed at her when she got it on her hand.

Katty couldn't ask for a better friend.

Peeing in a cup and sticking the test in it had been suggested, but Katty didn't particularly want to piss into a cup that she'd later be drinking out of, so she sufficed to peeing on her hand while she tried to navigate where the stick was.

It was painful, waiting three minutes for a result.

"I'd offer you a glass of wine to ease your nerves, but, you know," Maggie offered uselessly.

Katty snorted, "Thanks, Mags."

Maggie wrinkled her nose. "I hate when you call me that."

"So I can't name my first born Mags?"

Maggie rolled her eyes and glanced towards the timer. Katty followed suit. One minute left. Her heart leapt.

"I'd feel sorry for any child that was half you, half Daryl, but even more so if you punished it by naming it Mags."

Katty picked a spot on her chin while she deduced to herself that she disagreed with Maggie. Her and Daryl would probably have cute kids. They'd have nice eyes no matter who they took after, at least. Katty grimaced as she pictured herself and Daryl trying to raise a child. It's first word would probably be a curse and if it's accent was a mix between hers and Daryl's, the kid would probably sound quite weird.

"Oh my god," Maggie laughed, jerking her out of her thoughts. "You're picturing your kids with him right now, aren't you?"

"Am not," Katty snapped, but knew that the shifty look on her face concluded that her denial had been a lie.

The awful, grating noise of the egg timer going off stopped Maggie from saying whatever she was about to embarrass Katty with, and both women looked towards the stick that they had purposeful put face down on the bathroom counter.

"Our kids could have rhyming names; Mags and Gags. G for Glenn, of course," Katty suggested, because she wanted to prolong looking at the test.

Maggie ignored her stupid proposal. "Want me to look first?"

"Yes," she stated immediately, and watched Maggie's face carefully as her friend grabbed the test off the counter and turned it towards herself. Maggie's face remained neutral as she looked at it, flickering her eyes the tiny screen and the legend beside it multiple times.

"Well?" Katty wheezed, her throat feeling dry and constricted.

Maggie bit her lip, and looked up at Katty, unsure. "Looks like Mags and Gags ain't happenin' just yet."

Katty blinked stupidly, and then scrambled to grab the test from Maggie's outstretched hand when the comprehension dawned on her.

One line.

Negative.

Katty felt herself sit on the toilet lid as she stared at the reading screen, searching for any trace of another line.

One line.

Negative.

While she sat, there, trying to figure out how she felt, Katty blinked when she found Maggie's hand on her shoulder.

"I'll still name mine Gags, if you want. It's startin' to grow on me."

Katty managed a laugh, though she felt the funny comment deserved more than the weak chuckle, and smiled up at Maggie.

"Thanks," she said, more so for the fact that Maggie had stayed with her through it, rather than because Maggie offered to name her first-born Gags.

Maggie left shortly after, realizing that Katty wanted to be left alone. She wasn't sure how she felt or why she wasn't ecstatic. She wasn't pregnant. Katty should be jumping for fucking joy at the fact.

Part of her felt hollow.

It felt like something had been ripped away from her, a part that she didn't know was missing. That was a lie; Katty knew it had been missing. The test just now served as a reminder that she wouldn't – shouldn't – have children in this new world. She wanted them before, for as long as she could remember. But even reflecting on how life might be sustainable inside the walls of Alexandria, with doctors and medicine available to her now, Katty couldn't shake the feeling that she'd never feel secure enough to ever have children. To risk the heartache.

She picked at her finger nails absentmindedly as the sadness crept up like frost on a cold morning.

Katty didn't think that any number of similes or metaphors could ever explain the conflicting feelings she was having.

* * *

Blood rushed in his ears, his heart beat uncontrollably, and Daryl felt cold and sweaty at the same time.

Was he close to passing out?

Maybe.

Was he hoping that he'd hit his head on the way down and forget about what he had just found?

Definitely.

After they had finished talking as a group about the supply run, Daryl had left to follow Kat. She hadn't been at the infirmary when he showed up at the doorstep, and Daryl moved on to the next logical place; her house.

Walking in, it was quiet and empty and Daryl hadn't been sure if he should even bother calling out for Kat. When something small and white had caught his eye on the counter, he had paused.

The hell was that?

It had taken him a minute, but when the realization had hit him like a fucking bucket of ice cold water, his attention quickly focussed away from Kat and zeroed in on the pregnancy test in his hand.

" _I actually have to go grab something that I forgot from the infirmary,_ " Kat's voice echoed in his head. The hesitance when he had moved to take down her panties. The counting. The evasive look when he had tried to ask what was wrong.

His hands shook as Daryl tried to decipher what the fuck two lines meant. Wasn't it supposed to be a positive or negative sign? Was this two negative signs? The fuck did it mean? His eyes landed on the legend beside the screen. It was simple.

One line. Negative.

Two lines. Positive.

Kat was pregnant.

He had gotten Kat pregnant.

The first emotion to run through him was panic. They couldn't raise a baby in the apocalypse. He wouldn't have been able to raise a kid _before_ the end of the world, and now? With fucking dead people walking around? Holy shit. Judith was an exception. She never cried, never made a fucking sound when Walkers were nearby. Lil Asskicker was special and Daryl doubted that there would be another one like her. He couldn't be a father for fucks sake. He never had one in the first place that wasn't either pissed drunk or beating the shit out of him. How could Daryl possibly raise his own?

He was going to vomit.

A spark of anger took flare, and Daryl's mind ran with it, coaxing the flame. She had _hid_ this from him. Kat had known, at least had an idea, and had purposeful kept him out of the loop. Was she ever planning on telling him?

He was fucking livid. How could she keep something like this from him?

How was she planning on explaining it when she had a baby bump? Was she going to kill it, and not tell him? Daryl's stomach churned, and he took off up the stairs, now both angry and scared.

It was his fuckin' kid. Hell if he didn't get a say in anything.

Daryl shoved open two doors before he found himself in a bedroom that he assumed was Kat's. It had her stupid, sequined shorts on the bed, at least. He looked around quickly. Fucking empty.

Daryl was about to rip apart the house looking for her, before he heard movement behind another door, in what he assumed was a bathroom. Whipping around, he stalked over to the white door, the color taunting him, and kicked it open. The door had been ajar, so it banged loudly against the wall as it violently swung open. Kat was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

"Daryl," she spluttered, "What the bloody hell – "

"When were ya gonna fuckin' tell me?" he snarled from the doorway. Daryl wanted to storm towards her, grab Kat and shake the fuckin' stupidity out of her. But he didn't. He felt frozen, his feet like slabs of lead, weighed heavily on the ground. She was pregnant.

"Daryl, what – " her eyes were panicked, and Kat was shaking her head, and it made Daryl angrier that she could even think about playing dumb.

"Yer knocked up," he snapped, and threw the test strip at her feet. It bounced and slid across the tile, and Kat stared at it, her eyes becoming wider. Her head snapped up, her jaw opening and closing a few times before she found her voice again.

"No, that's – "

He scoffed, appalled that Kat had the indecency to lie to his face. She obviously thought so fucking little of him and his intelligence that she thought she could get away with it. Fuckin' bitch.

Daryl's eye caught onto a pink box, sitting on the bathroom counter beside Kat. He reached out an snatched it, waving the cardboard at her. She flinched away slightly at the quick, angry movement, and Daryl ignored when his heart clenched that Kat thought he might throw it at her. He was too angry to feel guilty right now.

"The fuck is this then? The box that _Slut_ Barbie's Dreamhouse came in?" he spat at her, relishing in the fact that a glint of anger appeared in her previously surprised eyes. Daryl wanted Kat to be pissed off. He wanted a fight.

"The Barbie abortion clinic sold separately, or did ya already get that too?" he continued rudely when Kat opened her mouth to retort.

"Shut the fuck up, you don't know anything," Kat finally cut in when Daryl paused to breathe, air suddenly coming in short supply as he remembered that there was the possibility that Kat may have gotten rid of it already. How did they even do them? Was it a pill? His eyes snapped to the counter once again, wracking the marble top for any unidentified bottles that he had previously missed.

Not finding anything, Daryl strode forward and ripped open the medicine cabinet to the left, not entirely sure what he was looking for.

"Maggie – "

"Fuckin' fantastic. Maggie knew 'fore I did? Anyone else?" he snarled to himself as he rifled through the shelves. Daryl jumped back when the cabinet door suddenly slammed closed, barely missing his fingers.

He turned to scowl at Kat, freezing when he realized how close she was to him suddenly. Her hands roughly weaved themselves into his hair and snapped his face so it was level with hers. Kat's eyes were narrowed and angry.

"I'm not fucking pregnant. That one was Maggie's," she hissed into his face, her grip tightening in Daryl's hair.

Daryl's brow furrowed, "Why the box up here with ya, then?" he didn't understand.

"I took one too, but it was negative. Maggie's pregnant, not me," she reaffirmed, scowling at him.

Relief washed over him, but Daryl still found himself angry. She had taken a test without saying anything to him.

"Ya thought ya were pregnant an' didn't say shit," he snapped, narrowing his eyes at her. His neck had started to hurt, but Kat's grip didn't seem to be slackening anytime soon.

"Why would I tell you if it ended up being negative?" she asked incredulously, and Daryl scoffed, ripping away from her.

"Yeah, because I wouldn't deserve ta know, especially since it'd be mine," How was this such a hard concept for Kat to grasp, that he didn't want to be left out or treated like he was stupid. "If it is mine," he sneered, and knew it was an immature, low blow. Daryl knew had hadn't been screwing around behind his back, he just was angry and wanted to piss her off.

And piss her off it did.

"Get out," she commanded cooly.

Daryl paused, suddenly unnerved at the change in Kat's anger. It seemed to simmer just below her surface, and in all honesty, it freaked him out slightly. That she wasn't screaming at him, wasn't slapping him or pushing him out the door. Just calmly telling him to get out.

It wasn't the anger he was used to. Fists and belts and white hot ends of cigarettes. It unnerved him that the quiet kind of anger was more threatening.

He hesitated, perhaps a moment too long.

"Get. Out," she seethed at him through her teeth, and Daryl knew he had taken it too far.

He wasn't about to admit it, though, so Daryl just turned and stormed away, stalking heavily and loudly down the stairs and tearing through the bottom level of the house. The fresh air was muchly needed, and Daryl screwed his eyes shut as he leaned heavily against the porch banister. He didn't trust his own centre of gravity. He shakily pulled out and lit a cigarette as he tried to calm his nerves and his anger.

He wasn't sure how long he stood on Kat's porch, trying not to think. He wasn't sure if he was waiting for her to come out or if he just didn't trust himself to walk away just yet. Daryl put the lit cigarette between his lips and then massaged his temples.

Was Kat worth this bullshit?

He was in the middle of talking himself into avoiding her for the rest of his life, when he heard hesitant footsteps on the porch behind him. Daryl decided to ignore her, and screwed his eyes up tighter. The last thing he needed was her following him just to yell at him.

Or worse, that _quiet_ anger.

Daryl tensed when he felt Kat place her forehead in the centre on his back, between his shoulder blades.

"We need to work on some shit," she murmured into his back. He felt himself snort. Not because he agreed; Daryl was still leaning towards the idea that he didn't want anything more to do with Kat. He snorted because it was a fucking understatement if he ever heard one.

Just when he was getting used to the presence of Kat's face in his back and Daryl felt himself relaxing slightly, he tensed up again when her arms wound themselves around his waist.

"I get it. I fucked up when I took the test and hid it from you. I didn't mean to freak you out," her voice vibrated against his skin, and Daryl was annoyed when his body relaxed against his will at Kat's arms around him. She shifted her face so her words weren't muffled by his vest. "But you can't talk to me like that, can't call me names, or accuse me of shit like that. You fucked up too," she concluded, her arms tightening around him like she figured he would rip away from her.

He didn't.

Daryl sighed through his nose, and puffed a few more times on the cigarette between his lips before he answered.

"Ain't think yer a slut," he said, and thought it sounded like a pathetic apology.

"Doesn't matter. Don't say it again," she said firmly, stiffly.

Kat sighed when he didn't reply right away, and unwound her arms from his middle. Before she could step away, Daryl strung his arm around her ribcage and pulled her in front of him. Kat was trapped between his arms, which were resting on either side of her on the railing, her back pressed to his chest.

"Sorry," he stated gruffly and quickly, not wanting her to go. He didn't want her upset with him, even if he had just been contemplating ignoring her again. Daryl knew that he wouldn't have been able to do that at this point. It was all just talk.

She let out a deep breath that she'd been holding. "I'm sorry too," Kat replied lightly.

"We got shit ta work on," he reaffirmed her words from earlier, and felt her body move when Kat snorted.

"Guess we should cool it for a while," Kat stated casually, bringing a hand up to pick at her fingernails. "Unless you were quite keen on the idea of a tiny, angry redneck running around with a British accent."

Looking over her shoulder, she laughed at the cringing, uncomfortable face that Daryl pulled without realizing it.

"Nah," he gruffly replied, feeling heat creeping up his neck. "'Specially if it ends up with yer creepy-ass eyes." He didn't mean that, but felt like deflecting his embarrassment into a soft jab at Kat was the only way out of it. The idea of having kids with her was fucking preposterous. Daryl was still sure, even though she disagreed, that Kat wouldn't have given him a second look before the apocalypse and before the now limited options. It was still embarrassing though. His anger felt shameful now, and he wondered how Kat was so quick to joke about what had just happened. Maybe it was her way of moving past it.

Kat let out a light laugh that almost sounded sad, wistful. She was silent for a while afterwards, and Daryl was struck by the odd thought that maybe she was. Why, though?

"Ya good?" he spoke into the crook of her neck, relishing in the goosebumps that appeared in the wake of his words.

"Yeah," came her short reply.

Daryl didn't believe it, but he was scared to push it and find out what she was thinking.

He felt selfish and unsupportive and entirely unfit to be anything to Kat. But she still wanted him somehow. It was goddamn _baffling_. Daryl knew anger. He didn't know patience and talking shit through and anything that would help him be with her.

But he wanted to try.

Even in his arms, small and cold and unintimidating, she felt dangerous. Like an ocean that would suck him out. That wasn't right, he thought to himself as he leaned heavily on her, practically squishing her against the railing. That didn't suit Kat. Rough winds and white capped seas, crushing boats and sailors; that wasn't her. He didn't think he could ever imagine any number of similes or metaphors that, wound together, would describe Kat properly.

But he wanted to try.

"You actually think my eyes are creepy?" Kat asked suddenly, a laugh bubbling up as she voiced the question.

No. "Yup."

He hissed in pain when her heel purposeful and gratingly scraped against the front of his shin.

"Arsehole," she laughed, and Daryl thought it sounded like windchimes and morning birds and a clap of thunder. Daryl snorted to himself.

Definitely not enough similes.

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope I tricked some of you at least with the opening bit. Wanted the people that guessed a pregnancy scare to at least be worried for a little bit haha!

Ended pretty cute, right? They've still got a ways to go before I'd even consider throwing a baby at them, don't worry. I think they'd fall apart if that happened. And I personally get bored reading stories after the main characters have kids, so I'm not sure if I'd keep the story going past that point. Who knows?

I'm thinking I will do a Negan story _eventually_ as well, but I want to make sure I have it fleshed out properly with where I want to go with it. I thought for a long time about this one, and I don't want to just shit out another one right away because another character is getting popular.

All the encouraging words are amazing though, you lot are the best!

Thank you and don't forget to leave a review!

-Submechanophobia

* * *

 _Next Time: Something was wrong, she knew it. It didn't make sense why so many people were going on the supply run for some goddamn seeds._

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	24. Predator

Heterochromia Iridum

 **It's feels like it's been so long! Christmas snuck up on me and I spent a lot of time with family and to myself; writing was put on the back burner. I honestly haven't felt the itch to write this story in a bit, so hopefully this chapter changes things. I definitely do intend to finish this. It wouldn't feel right to start posting another story and completely forget about Katty. So, don't worry!**

 **Going over my chapter notes and stats, it's shocking how far this has come. Over 160,000 words, 50,000 views, 400 follows and 300 reviews.**

 **So thank you to** **Sarah** **,** **NikChic** **,** **Guest** **,** **Charlie2193** **,** **Lilmonkey1507** **,** **JenTen** **,** **Biasoul** **,** **Guest** **,** **Shortyred** **,** **Jasamfromthestart** **,** **melissawtf** **,** **lalilou10** **,** **Suzzie** **,** **LoveFiction2016** **,** **lalilou10** **,** **Kaiya's Watergarden** **,** **lalilou10** **,** **lalilou10** **,** **Bactrian Camel** **,** **GawkyTC** **,** **Jean** **,** **Nirvana14** **,** **Junior** **,** **lalilou10** **,** **jeanf** **,** **chubot** **,** **lizselwyn** **,** **lilhobbit** **,** **lilhobbit** **,** **Memerememe** **,** **Ravenclaw Slytherin** **, and** **Janettey** **for reviewing since last chapter! Thanks to you new people who are just starting reading and following.**

 **I've also posted the first chapter of _Storm Warning_ , please go check it out. It's my new Negan/OC story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

 **Warning: Recreational drug use in this chapter. Feel free to skip.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Predator

Maggie leaned back from her hunched position over the list of supplies they were hoping to find on the run. It mainly consisted of columns and bullet points, each depicting under which conditions they'd be able to grow which plant under. They required a variety of products that Alexandria surprisingly, wasn't equipped for. Different variations of trellises for different crops, but then it ranged down to where they were hoping to find simple things like hoes and wheelbarrows. The list was lengthy, but Alexandria was hoping to become as self-sustaining as possible – it was unlikely that they'd be able to secure all the items within the single trip, but it was worth a shot.

"Hey, Mags?" Katty popped her gum – a commodity which was hard to come by but she had managed to grab a few packs during the Walmart catastrophe.

Something was bothering her.

"What?" the female managed to yawn out while she stretched in her chair. They had been sitting there for a few hours now.

Katty eyed Maggie warily, wondering if pregnant women should remain stagnant for that long. What was it, were they were supposed to move, or not move? Katty couldn't remember.

"You think women can get blue balls?" Katty asked monotonously, popping her gum once again. She was done staring over maps and lists and spreadsheets and plans.

Maggie opened her mouth to reply, and then promptly shut it once more. Katty watched her lazily, rocking slightly back and forth on two legs of her chair. Maggie seemed to chew the inside of her cheeks for a moment, biting back a smile before retorting a clipped, "What?"

"Ya know, like blue clit or something? Blue ovaries? Whatever the equivalent is."

"I know that was your attempt at explainin' yourself but you're goin' to have to give me more than that," Maggie wasn't even trying to hide her amused expression anymore, and Katty flicked the eraser on the desk at her friend haphazardly.

Katty groaned and then rocked her chair forwards so the front two legs clacked to the ground noisily, before resting her chin in her palm. "Daryl won't come near me since the pregnancy test thing."

That something that was bothering her was Daryl.

Maggie snorted, "Can you blame him?"

"Yes – no – well, at least give me something!"

She hadn't told Maggie the extent of their 'fight', merely that he had found out. Katty had to explain why she had to tell Daryl that the test was Maggie's, after all. Maggie brushed it off, not concerned that Daryl would tell anyone.

The cackle that she got in return made Katty scowl and regret bringing it up to Maggie. "You're pregnant, shouldn't you be like a cat in heat or something?" she pointed out crudely.

"Yeah, but I don't have to work for it like you do," Maggie pointed out, "If I roll over in bed, Glenn's already halfway there."

"Ugh, sick," she pulled a face. "Even more sick that I'm actually jealous of you."

"Daryl's shy, you know that," Maggie explained patiently, "I'm sure his balls are just as _blue_ as yours –" Katty chose to ignore the fact that Maggie outright stated that she had testicles, " – Make a move and he'll probably go along with it."

Katty blew a bubble with her gum while she listened. "Tried that," and she had. Katty would leave out the part where she explained to Maggie that it had been in her awkward, half-assed manner, but she still technically had tried. It had been, what – three, four, days since she had taken the pregnancy test, and it had all gone back to normal between her and Daryl.

Too normal.

Normal as in what it was like between them before they shagged on the bonnet on the car.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. She had managed to get a few kisses out of him, and Katty understood the limit on PDA with Daryl, so they had all been when they were entirely alone, but the chasteness of the kisses annoyed her slightly. She didn't really like getting snogged as if she were his Nan, and whenever Katty attempted to draw him in more – whether it be her hands securing themselves at his neck or drifting _other places_ – Daryl would end it politely and move away.

Katty wasn't anxious enough to believe it was Daryl trying to communicate that he wasn't interested anymore. She wasn't a stranger to boners, and if the strain in the front of his pants said anything, Katty was under the impression that it decoded to mean that he was still interested.

"Shit, like I know, Katty!" Maggie laughed. Katty could vaguely hear footsteps upstairs in the background, walking around the ground level of the house. They were currently in Deanna's study, finalizing the lists. "Maybe you aren't trying hard enough. Grab the proverbial bull by the horns." Maggie accompanied her metaphor by placing either index finger on the side of her temples, pretending to be a bull.

Katty groaned again, choosing to ignore the footsteps that were getting louder. Whoever was walking around upstairs sure had a heavy fucking step. She rocked backwards on her chair again, resting both feet on the desk in front of her while Katty balanced herself on two legs. She scowled at the ceiling.

"It just feels like I get wet at _the drop of a fuckin' hat_ , and he suddenly has the virtuous nature of Mother Theresa."

Maggie was chortling to herself in the corner at her exuberant confession, and Katty slid her irritated gaze from the drywall to the brunette. Quirking a brow, Katty wondered what was so funny.

"Dixon's as much a nun as I am a fairy godmother."

The deep and masculine voice that sounded from behind Katty in the stairwell startled her, and her feet instinctually kicked from the deck, attempting to right herself. Her stomach leapt and then dropped as her centre of gravity changed and Katty fell ass over tits backwards towards the ground.

 _CRASH._

A crescendo of laughter was the first sound that greeted her when the world stopped spinning. Kicking her legs over her head so that she'd roll out of the chair that miraculously didn't break, Abraham was the first thing that she saw.

Jesus Christ, no.

Katty could feel her face burning.

"For a big fucker, you sure are quiet," she snapped, grabbing his hand when the redhead offered it to her. He pulled her up easily, still chuckling.

"Guess you were too _preoccupied_ ," Glenn chimed from behind Abraham, already standing beside his wife. Katty was secretly jealous; it was like there was a magnetic pull between the two, and they were never far from each other.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Katty tried and failed to calm the blood rushing to her face up to her ears. "Maggie was just telling me how quick you are, Glenn."

"I was not!" Maggie's immediate protests sounded over Abraham's proceeding laughter and Glenn's now pink tinged face.

"What do you two brutes want, then?" Katty dusted herself off as she tried to pick off the ground her chair as well as her dignity. "Can't you see we're working?"

Abraham and Glenn both rolled their eyes. "Looks like you've gotten a lot done," Glenn cheeked.

"Your boy's back," Abraham rumbled at her. Katty's ears perked at that.

"Calum?"

Abraham nodded. "Got in a few hours ago, and we've almost finished packing the vehicles to leave if you wanna get your skinny ass up there. Your weapons are already loaded in the van."

Katty frowned. "Calum wants to leave again already?" The man had already been gone a day and night, apparently returning this morning. She didn't approve of the lack of recuperation time.

"Didn't return with much, sounded like it was pretty uneventful so he's pretty eager to leave again," Abraham concluded with a noncommittal shrug.

Katty still didn't like the sound of that, and immediately got up to start collecting the maps and lists that were on the desk behind her. Calum was often too eager to volunteer for jobs, anything to keep himself preoccupied, and she didn't always trust his judgement on whether he was too worn down or not to accept it.

It was true, they had been waiting for Calum and Heath to return before they would leave together to go supply hunting. Initially, it was supposed to be a small group. Calum, Katty and Rosita had been the original three, being that they all worked well together and understood what the objective was. The run for agricultural supplies had been planned for a while now, but as it went on, the closer it came to the date, it got pushed back. More people became involved, and there were more meetings held about it. Without her.

It didn't bother her entirely that Rick spoke to his group about it without her; Maggie was there, after all, she knew about as much as Katty did. It would just be repeated information, so there was no real need for her to be there.

But she still had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was missing something.

Katty bid Maggie a short goodbye, accompanied with a hug. The woman didn't deserve it with how much she laughed at Katty today, but she did anyways, before Katty and Abraham ventured up the stairs and out the door. Glenn lingered back to say goodbye to his wife in privacy.

"You're coming too, Abe?" Katty glanced over at her companion as they walked towards the front gate.

From beside her, he nodded. "Wouldn't wanna miss any of the action," the Sergeant paused before sending her a grin from behind his mustache. "Or lack of action from you and Dixon."

"Shut it," she hissed as they drew nearer to the vehicles at the front. The last thing she needed was Daryl hearing that. She'd be celibate for life.

Katty didn't voice her opinion, but upon seeing the collection of people milling about in front of the vehicles, it made her wary.

Herself, Abraham, Glenn, Calum, Daryl, Rick, Rosita, and Michonne.

Katty narrowed her eyes. She knew it would be bigger than the original trio that were supposed to have gone, but this was a bit excessive. All of them were proficient fighters, all strong and competent and Katty thought that _surely_ they had better things to do than go on the supply run. Granted, there wasn't really a designated supply run team anymore, considering that Noah and Aiden had died. But, to take a large number of the people who were capable enough to defend Alexandria, the run had to be worth something.

Something was wrong, she knew it. It didn't make sense why so many people were going on the supply run for some goddamn seeds.

Katty didn't say anything, aware that there were more residents lingering about as they prepared to leave, and assumed that she would either end up causing a scene, paranoia, or being dismissed. She'd have to try to find the answer at a more opportune moment.

Tact was not exactly her strong suit, however.

Abraham elbowed Katty roughly when Daryl appeared from behind one of the large, industrial looking vans. Katty grunted and then turned to frown at Abraham.

"What?" she snapped, already expecting the worst.

He pretended to look around before clapping his hands around his head. "Katty," he whispered urgently and loudly, attracting the attention of a few people who glanced over, curious.

"It appears I've _dropped my hat_. Would you know where to find it? I wouldn't want it gettin' _wet_."

Katty felt heat creep up her neck for the second time that day, and scowled at Abraham, grinding her teeth. "I wouldn't, but if I do, I'll make sure to shove it up your arse so you won't lose it again," she ground out thickly.

"What's this about being wet?"

Abraham and Calum were going to be the death of her, she was sure of it.

"Drop it, Calum," Katty turned her stern look to the pretty-boy behind her, flashing his typical, bright white smile at her.

She quickly took a moment to look over Calum contemplatively. Abraham was right, he didn't appear any worse for wear. Still had that stupid grin on his face. His dark hair was perfectly coiffed, and Calum seemed well rested, along with freshly showered.

"Did you even go out yesterday?" Katty asked dubiously. The man rolled out of bed looking better than she would if she tried, it was infuriating.

"Sure did," Calum popped, encircling Katty's shoulders with a lean arm as he walked with Katty in between Abraham and himself. "And I may have found something that you will be _mighty_ interested in."

She bit back a smile, slightly nervous for whatever Calum found while he was out that made that glint in his eye appear. She was about to ask what it was, before they stopped walking in front of Rick.

"Katty," Rick called, amusement ringing in her two-syllable name. "You're riding with me, Calum, Daryl and Michonne." He then turned to speak to Carl, who was standing off to the side holding Judith.

Calum's arm was still slung around her shoulder when she looked up at Rick, in time to see Daryl getting seated into the last bench of the van.

Calum didn't seem to miss her pointed look at Daryl, and tossed a grin her way. "I'm napping so you get to sit in back," he quickly instructed before shoving past her to beat Katty into the vehicle.

Katty rolled her eyes, biding her time by securing her machete more securely to her hip before Michonne yelled at her from the passenger seat to get in.

"Hey," she murmured to Daryl as she clamored into the back, taking a seat that she hoped wasn't too close or too far from the man to be perceived as weird. Katty suddenly felt nervous around Daryl, though she knew she shouldn't be.

Daryl was spread out comfortably over what would decidedly be 'his half' of the cushioned bench in the back. He grunted in response, barely looking up at her from the knife in his hands, picking dirt out from under his nails.

Charming.

They started driving, and Katty was momentarily distracted from admiring Daryl by the grumbling up front.

"No," groaned Michonne. "Anything else. Please."

Rick was rustling with a CD case in his hands while he sat in the driver's seat. He let out an embarrassed laugh, though ignored Michonne's complaint and slot the CD in the player anyways.

"It's good," he protested, "Better than that D-12 one that Carl has on repeat," he rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the woman beside him.

Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits album started playing, and Rick immediately started snapping along enthusiastically to _Oh Boy!_

Daryl let out a groan from beside her and his head fell back to the headrest behind him. Katty snorted. Rick's obviously was respected greatly for his taste in music. She heard Calum laugh lightly from his place in front of them before he rolled over to face the back of the seat.

"Oh, Rick," Katty remembered suddenly. "Did you want the map?" she reached for the folded up paper beside her.

He waved over his shoulder at her dismissively. "We're fine for now," he explained. "We left late today and wont be getting' to any of those buildings 'til tomorrow. Just goin' to drive for a few hours and meet to camp for the night."

Katty's eyebrows raised. "Why didn't we just wait 'til tomorrow early morning to leave then?" It didn't make much sense to her why they had left early afternoon just to waste a day driving and setting up camp.

Rick glanced at Katty through the rear-view mirror. "Wanted to get a move on," was the simple retort, his tone not leaving much room for discussion.

Katty shrugged, unconcerned for the moment. She would prod more later, when they stopped.

The conversation took on a lighter tone after that, with Michonne lightly teasing Rick every so often about his singing or his off-beat snapping. Katty smiled at the genial banter; she figured there was something hidden between them, even if they didn't realize it yet. Calum snored lightly from his prone position in front of them. Daryl still sat beside her, spread out, his arms stretched around the back of the headrests.

At one point, Rick had to drive around and in the grass to avoid a snare of cars on the highway. The jostling and somewhat sharp turn slid Katty down the bench and into Daryl's side, who stiffened somewhat at her sudden presence beside him.

Katty squeaked and squirmed, trying to move away from the redneck while she muttered an apology under her breath. She didn't particularly want to draw attention to them and make Daryl uncomfortable.

As she tried to move away and back into her respected seat, Daryl's arm from around the back of the seat curled and gripped her shoulder, effectively halting her motion. Katty froze, she was halfway off of Daryl and halfway leaning under his shoulder and on his chest. Katty's gaze immediately fixed itself on Rick and Michonne in the front seats. Both were preoccupied with the tangle of metal on the highway, muttering directions to the other car over the Walkie Talkie they had to communicate.

"Relax." Daryl's voice was like sandpaper on gravel and the light, murmured command sent a shock straight down to her core.

Katty felt herself making a decision and leaning back in towards Daryl. She felt starved for physical contact, even though it had really only been just over a week. Katty blamed Daryl for that. She had gone almost the entirety of the apocalypse without intimacy on this level, and now that she suddenly had a taste of it, she was addicted.

Katty relaxed into his side, Daryl's fingers lightly rubbing her left shoulder, distracting her from any fear of being caught by Rick or Michonne, or worse; Calum. Calum was asleep, after all. This wouldn't hurt, would it?

His scent, entirely masculine and entirely _Daryl_ invaded her senses the longer she lounged against him, clouding not only her mind, but her judgement.

Fuck it.

Katty rolled slightly to her right, craning her head around and angling toward Daryl. Her lips captured his, Katty being only momentarily surprised that he had allowed her to kiss him in the back of the van. The surprise was fleeting, before she said 'fuck it' once more, twisting more in her seat to press herself against him more.

Her right hand anchored herself with Daryl's thigh as she moved against him. Katty could feel Daryl starting to pull away from her, when the van ran over what she assumed was the bodies of a few Walkers by the amount that the vehicle jolted.

The jolting bounced Katty slightly and she fully turned and steadied herself with her other hand on Daryl's opposite thigh in order to stop herself from falling over for the second time that day. Daryl's mouth opened momentarily from the sudden surprise and Katty took the opportunity to angle her mouth better and slide her tongue into his mouth to play with his. Daryl's tongue and teeth clashed with hers as the van bumped around again, in a way that was demanding and needy and made her pussy throb with just as much need.

Her hands squeezed his thighs as she let out a small whimper at the contact. Her left hand brushed against the noticeable bulge in his pants and Daryl, as if just remembering where they were, practically ripped himself away from Katty. Just as the van steadied itself again and they started driving smoothly, Daryl maneuvered Katty back into a proper seated position. She was still nestled under his arm, but it felt miles away compared to where she _wanted_ to be.

Rick didn't bother looking back at them, his eyes focussed on the road, scanning for any more delays, "That seems to be the last of the traffic snarl," he commented to them offhandedly, the Walkie Talkie in his right hand.

Katty was barely listening to Rick, her thoughts focussed on the man beside her. She wanted to groan out loud at the loss of contact. And, also at her sexual frustration. One fucking kiss and she was a goddamn puddle. Her breathing was somewhat laboured, and Katty ventured a look over at Daryl. He wouldn't look at her, but Katty was close enough she could see the dilated pupils, the irregular, rushed rise and fall of his chest as he tried to steady his breathing.

Maggie's words of encouragement rang through her hand briefly.

" _Grab the proverbial bull by the horns."_

Katty was sure that Maggie didn't mean it how Katty had chosen to interpret it as, but what Maggie didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

Turning her head so that she could watch his expression out of the corner of her eye, Katty placed her hand on Daryl's knee. He didn't flinch at the contact, so Katty continued. Running her hand a bit lower down his leg, Katty altered the pressure between a light touch to practically massaging his leg.

From her position, she saw Daryl turn to look at Katty questioningly, and she could feel him running his own gaze over her features. Fuck, how she wanted to look at him. Katty figured that Daryl would soon get fed up and bat her hand away, so she moved quicker, running her open palm down his thigh lightly, before retreating once more. Katty repeated this motion a couple more times before she quickly turned her face towards him to watch his features as she roughly cupped his cock through his jeans.

Seeing Daryl's eyes cloud over, hazy with lust, and how his mouth slightly parted so he could exhale a shaky, ragged breath, Katty was sure she could later get off from that picture alone, burnt into her retinas.

She was able to stroke him a few times before Daryl decided that was as far as she was going to get, and snatched her wrist from his crotch. Fixing her with a stern look, Katty couldn't help but let her tongue trail along her lips at how blown out and lust filled Daryl's pupils were.

His eyes slid down to her mouth before they quickly bounced back up to her eyes. "Git over there," he ordered, shoving a pillow at her and sliding Katty away from him, along the seat. She couldn't help but let out a laugh at the man's attempt at putting some distance between them. All so that she wouldn't make him cum his pants in the back of a van with three other people in it.

"Everything alright back there?" Michonne asked warily, turning around and arching an eyebrow at the pair.

Katty snorted, her spirits suddenly lifted from the previous contact with Daryl. "Yes, mum."

She turned to watch, amused, as Daryl grabbed another pillow from below them on the floor and placed it in his lap.

"She's tired," he grouched, "Kat's goin' ta sleep."

Michonne quirked her other brow at Daryl before she turned her attention back to Katty. "There's probably enough room for you to lay down back there Katty. You should try to sleep; we'll be taking watch shifts tonight."

Katty wasn't tired, and wasn't completely done messing with Daryl yet. Katty kicked off her Timberland boots and placed them under the bench and out of the way. Sliding down the seat so that she was mostly laying down supine, just propped up by her folded pillow, she turned her focus back to Daryl.

He was looking everywhere but her, but shot her an annoyed look when her feet perched themselves on his lap. Katty smiled brightly back at him, and Daryl responded by flicking the underside of her big toe.

She waited a few moments for Daryl to look away, before she moved her foot and carefully pressed it on Daryl's still hard dick.

The violent jump that Daryl answered with made Katty bite her knuckles to keep from laughing. Daryl practically growled before he shoved her feet off and away from him, now instead using his pillow as a barricade from her.

Katty shook with silent laughter.

It was going to be a long ride.

* * *

She actually did get to sleep sometime after that, which Katty was sure Daryl was thankful for. She must have slept for a few hours, drifting in and out of consciousness when the members of her van would either talk to each other or the other vehicle on the Walkie Talkie. It wasn't a deep sleep, but it was enough to help make up for the hours that she still lost during the nighttime.

Katty still had nightmares.

Still dreamt of footsteps, restraints and that room. Still dreamt of the melancholy faces of dead friends. Still dreamt of horrors that didn't include the dead walking around.

It was less all-encompassing than it had been when Calum had woken her up that night, but they still remained. She figured that most people nowadays had night terrors, and Katty was not an exception to the rule. Calum had stopped shaking her awake at night, but Katty was too scared to ask if it was because her cries had settled or if he had just given up.

From her position on the seat, curled into herself and in a ball, Katty was prodded awake by an index finger in her rib cage. Jerking out of sleep, Katty scrambled to sit up.

"We're here," Daryl informed her, sending her a look that Katty thought was fighting between irritated and amused. He moved past her and hopped out of the van, presumably to start help set up the camp.

Katty yawned, stretching her arms above her head briefly before looking over the seat in front of her. Calum was up already, she presumed, considering his absence.

Getting out of the van herself, Katty looked around. They had pulled into a large clearing off the road they had traversed down. It was slightly elevated from the surrounding terrain and had a perimeter of treeline past the tall grasses. She figured they'd at least be able to see any Walkers that appeared.

Katty paused, her previous thought echoing through her mind once more. When had she started calling them Walkers? She rolled her eyes to herself. Rick's group was rubbing off on her.

She was absolute trash at setting up tents, so Katty was thankful for the fact that Calum was a military brat and used to the task. Within the collection of their group of survivors, Katty spotted Calum in the distance, finishing up by laying a small tarp under where the front door was.

She picked a spot on her chin as she glanced around at the group. Other than Rosita and Abraham, Calum and herself were the only ones sharing tents. Everyone else had their own. Her gaze landed on Daryl, who was also finishing the last set of poles on his dark green tent. Would he want her to come by, when everyone was asleep?

Katty cocked her head. They had never actually slept beside one another, so Daryl might think it was odd. This wasn't a ploy to try to get in his pants, Katty just wanted to legitimately sleep beside him. But after what she did to him in the van, she doubted Daryl was too keen on her presence.

She grabbed the bin of small lanterns from the back of the van and started handing them out to the various tents. Most of the supplies would be kept in the back of the vehicles, in case something happened and they had to leave quickly.

"Katty, was that you we could hear snoring over the radio?" Abraham called loudly to her a few tents over. Rosita poked her head out of the front of it, sending Katty a grin before she came over to grab a lantern.

"That would be Calum," Katty replied indignantly. "He sounds like a bloody lawn mower."

"Oh, Katty," the gardening machine himself called her in a singsong voice, drawing out her name obnoxiously long. "Come here, dearest." He quirked a finger at her.

Katty couldn't help but notice Daryl frowning at the pair of them as she made her way over to Calum.

"I have a birthday present for you," Calum declared, and it made Katty nervous. He was practically vibrating with excitement, and she glanced over her shoulder at the various people milling about the makeshift camping grounds.

"Bit late, Cal, don't you think?" she teased, knocking her shoulder into his as she grabbed her bag of clothes and miscellaneous from the back of the van and chucking the bag in Calum's tent. He had been nice enough to set up her cot for her on the right side of the tent. Her bag bounced lamely off the cot and landed on the floor. Katty didn't care enough to fix it.

Calum ignored her statement and pulled her back out of the tent. "You have to figure out what it is." Katty wasn't sure she liked the Cheshire grin on his face. Her stomach twisted nervously, and she walked back to the vehicles to look them over once more. Most of the rest would remain in the cars.

She chewed her lip briefly and looked over at his bright eyes. He looked too excited for Katty not to play along. "You have to give me a hint, then."

Calum squinted at her briefly, pretending to think it over. "Do you remember when we first met," he started, "and I asked you what you thought would make the apocalypse bearable?"

Katty frowned, trying to remember him asking her that. She vaguely remembered the conversation; it had been a few years ago but it rang a bell. Travelling together, mostly just the two of them, they had asked each other a lot of questions, told a lot of stories.

When they first met, after she had calmed down and Calum had explained the research at the CDC, it had become clear that the bite hadn't affected her and was healing. Katty could recall that, at the time, Calum had asked her seriously what she felt they needed most.

She knew she had responded sarcastically. What the hell had she said? Calum looked at her expectantly, arching a brow.

" _So, KitKat," Calum drawled at her while they raided through a collection of cars on the side of the road. "What do we do now?"_

" _Hmm?" Katty looked up from the suitcase she was bent over._

" _We have to have a plan," Calum continued, leaning against the side of the beat up sedan as he watched her. "What d'ya think we need to get through this?"_

 _She glanced at the unstaring, rotting faces of the two undead that they had disposed of in the car. Moments ago, they had been snapping and snarling. What did she think they needed?_

 _Katty rolled her eyes. They needed –_

Katty's jaw dropped, and she whipped around to stare at Calum.

"No fucking way," she said incredulously.

He let out a whoop of laughter that reminded her of Merle, attracting the attention of everyone else around them.

"What's goin' on over there?" Glenn called, interested, as he and Abraham dragged chairs around where their fire would be when they cooked dinner later on that evening. Michonne and Rosita were already sat in two of the foldout, fabric chairs, chatting amiably. Rick and Daryl were off, combing through the tall grass for Walkers.

"Nothin', nosey," Katty chided, trying not to let a laugh bubble up. Fuck, it had been so long.

Katty grabbed Calum's hand and started leading him away, before Glenn or anyone else got too curious and headed their way. They passed Rick and Daryl as they headed towards the woods, and Katty greeted them with a short wave as they weaved through the tall grass.

"Where are you two headed?" Rick asked from a few meters away, Daryl near by, watching them warily.

Katty hesitated, unsure what to say.

"Gonna search through the woods a bit, be back in a shake," Calum supplied easily. Katty shrugged. Technically it wasn't a lie. They could check out the perimeter while they were at it.

Rick nodded in response, accepting the answer. Katty tried to send what she hoped was a comforting smile Daryl's way, but he merely panned his gaze up and down her figure slowly before turning away and continuing through the grass.

They did look through the woods some before stopping a good distance away from the group, they weren't completely irresponsible. Just slightly. Katty felt a bit guilty, and wondered what they'd say if they knew what Calum had in his pocket.

Glancing around, Calum pulled out a small baggie. Katty snorted at the appearance of an old grinder and a simple, black glass pipe and lighter in the Ziplock bag.

" _What d'ya think we need to get through this?"_

" _I think everyone needs to chill the fuck out and smoke a joint."_

"Where the hell'd you get that?" she asked as Calum opened the grinder and quickly began to pack the bowl halfway.

"When Heath and me were out yesterday. In an old house and found it in some dude's underwear drawer," Calum grinned at her.

"Underwear marijuana," Katty rolled her eyes.

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers," Calum chided her as he turned the lighter to light the bowl. He started to walk, passing the pipe to Katty after he had taken a hit. "We should keep walking. We have a job to do, after all," he said with a wink.

She followed beside him, inhaling and then blowing the smoke out slowly. "I didn't smoke that often before," Katty commented, passing it back to Calum once more. "But I really needed this," she laughed.

She knew they were being irresponsible and somewhat negligent, and quickly put the pipe away after they passed it between them a couple more times. She didn't want to be ripped out of her mind and then have to protect Calum from Walkers. Part of her was worried that the smell would attract Walkers, but her more relaxed portion of her brain could only picture super zen, chilled out dead people if they were able to get a contact high.

Katty laughed, "Maybe if Walkers smoked they'd be nicer."

"Wouldn't it make them hungrier?" Calum commented conversationally.

She cocked her head at him, contemplating the question as they walked the rest of the way around the perimeter and were now doubling back. "You think they'd get the munchies for human flesh?"

"What else would they want?"

"I prefer Doritos."

Calum let out an undignified snort and reached to tuck the rolled up baggie into Katty's back pocket. "You should change your clothes," he sniffed her. "You stink."

Katty batted at him playfully, but quickly ducked into the tent and changed out of her pants for some jean shorts.

"Katty," Rick called from outside her tent. "Daryl's goin' out huntin', why don't you go with him?" Katty's pleasantly buzzed brain thought that that sounded like a wonderful idea, and failed to hear the teasing tone in Rick's voice. Katty tucked the Ziplock baggie into a pocket of her bag before standing up.

"Sure, captain," she droned as she climbed out of the tent and zipped up the door. Rick shot her an arched brow look before turning and seating himself beside Michonne and Rosita.

Katty could see Daryl making his way towards the forest edge, crossbow slung over his shoulder, and she hurried to catch up to him.

He glanced over his shoulder at her approaching form, and slowed his pace so that she fell in step with him. Nodding at her in greeting, Katty let a lazy smile grace her features.

"Long time no see," she purred at him. Pot always made her feel cuddly and horny before the apocalypse, and apparently, the undead walking around didn't do much to alter that.

Daryl sent her a strange look over his shoulder and didn't say anything, which Katty expected.

When Daryl was in hunting mode, it was all he could focus on. She assumed that watching him hunt today would be no different; she'd be left to her thoughts. It would probably take everything in her to walk as quiet as she normally did and not go stomping through the forest and piss Daryl off, so silence was probably for the best.

She focussed on admiring him as he moved tactically through the woods, trying to follow practically in his footsteps in order to be as quiet as possible.

It helped that from this perspective, she could watch his ass as well. Katty trailed her eyes along his form, pouting slightly when she noticed his arms were covered up for once. Oh well. The man was still distracting, that was for sure.

Daryl would hold his finger up to her sometimes, glancing back to Katty briefly to stop her from moving. Katty barely noticed how long they had been out there until she realized that Daryl had an assortment of squirrel and rabbit hooked over his shoulder like a belt. She decided to ignore the dead things Daryl was using as an accessory, combing her eyes over him once again.

"Would ya knock it off, Kat," Daryl snapped at her, making Katty jump. Not as stealthy as she had originally thought, Daryl's cheeks were tinged with color as he looked over at her.

"What?" she asked dumbly, her mind trailing over the now all too familiar throb between her legs. It seemed to appear whenever Daryl was around, for whatever reason.

Snort.

"Lookin' at me like that," Daryl sounded embarrassed, but Katty couldn't figure out why. Looking at him like what? She was just appreciating his lean form and muscles and the way he walked and how his ass looked in those pants –

"Yer doin' it again," he shuffled uncomfortably in front of her and Katty jumped again, pulled from her thoughts.

She shrugged. "It's not my fault," Katty raised her arms in mock defense. It wasn't her fault that he made her pussy so wet and needy all the time.

Daryl froze, his eyebrows shooting up and his mouth slightly parted in shock. Katty blinked. What was the issue?

Her fuzzy brain caught up to her, and Katty realized that she _may_ have said that last bit out loud.

Oh shit.

Before she could think of a viable response, a joke, an awkward distraction, Daryl was stalking towards her. It was completely unlike how he normally walked in the woods, hunting, but it was one in the same. He was a predator, making his presence known as such. Daryl's footsteps were suddenly heavy and demanding, much like the intense look that he was currently giving her as he advanced towards Katty.

Katty's brain finally pieced together that _she_ was the prey in this situation, just as Daryl reached her and walked her backwards until she was pressed against the rough surface of a tree. Her heart hammered in her chest as he loomed over her, his normally blue eyes shrouded by dilated pupils.

Her throat was dry, and Katty clumsily gulped between ragged breaths that pressed her chest firmly to Daryl's.

He craned his neck down towards her, and Katty gasped when Daryl's teeth nipped at her ear before pressing himself against her and growling into her ear,

"Tell me again how _wet_ I make that liddol pussy."

Oh shit.

* * *

 **A/N: Ain't gonna lie, it's been a while and I just really wanted to write something fun that would get me back into the swing of writing. I diverted a bit, because we were supposed to get into some stuff that's** _ **less fun**_ **, but I swear that we'll return to the main plot soon. I'd like to keep a good mix of themes going on here.**

 **Awkward, bumbling Katty is my favourite to write, so she made a few appearances this chapter, I hope you don't mind!**

 **Next chapter picks up right where this one leaves off. I'm bouncing around a bit in my personal life right now, so I might not be able to get the next one out for another week or two, but it definitely wont be another month's wait. Thanks for being patient with me, dears!**

 _ **And I've posted the first chapter of**_ Storm Warning _ **, my Negan/OC story, so be sure to check it out and let me know what you think so farrrrr. Make sure to follow that one as well.**_

 **Thanks!**

 **-Submechanophobia**

* * *

 _Next Time: She was going to be picking shards of tree out of her arse for a week._


	25. Drowning

Heterochromia Iridum

 **Hey guys! Been a while since I've picked this up. I won't list a bunch of excuses, but thanks for being patient. Sometimes I get in my own head about things and get anxious. I hadn't actually read a single review from the last chapter until recently. Everyone is always super nice, I just have that little voice in the back of my head lately that I think made me worry and keep putting this off.**

 **I'm also trying to write more to please myself than other people, which sounds shitty but I want to have fun. I have an erratic schedule lately, but I really do want to complete this story and hopefully start the sequel eventually.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.**

* * *

Chapter 25: Drowning

Katty's stomach twisted and turned. And she wasn't sure if she was nervous or excited or somewhere in between.

She didn't often feel intimidated by Daryl. Maybe in the beginning, but not as of late. He was just as, if not more, socially awkward and unsure as she was. She supposed that the cocktail of hesitance and artless beings that they were together should have caused them to drown. But they didn't. Katty felt like an equal and somehow not like a bumbling, nervous twenty-five – twenty-six? – year old girl wading too deep.

And so, she never typically thought of Daryl as an exceptionally tall, imposing figure. But pressed, chest to chest and against rough bark, Katty felt intimidated. Like a darkened window, he shut out the light and all she could focus on was Daryl. His breath rattled her like shutters in the wind.

He felt like a force of nature and Katy wondered if she was, now, wading too deep.

She blinked dumbly, realizing that Daryl was waiting for an answer.

"Uh – well – I mean," Katty didn't think it were physically possible for her to string together more than two words coherently. Her tongue felt sluggish and clumsy.

Daryl huffed out a laugh and Katty gulped as the air brushed over her face. His eyes were shadowed and intense and raking over every part of her face and Katty thought that surely every inch of her was shaking.

"S'ppose I could jus' see fer myself," his voice was as heavy and dark as his eyes and Katty quirked her brows, not fully understanding what he meant. What had he asked her again?

Daryl's arm came up, and he rested it heavily on the tree above Katty's head, somehow leaning closer to her than they were before. She was too focussed on his face and his smell and his everything, but her breath caught in her throat when she felt Daryl snake his other hand down to fully cup her between her legs. The denim around her legs was short and loose, and Daryl easily curled his fingers around the fabric and ghosted along the edge of her panties.

He rubbed her slowly through her cotton panties, and Katty would have sworn that she heard a barely restrained groan traveling from the back of Daryl's throat when he found out how wet she was. It seemed to spur him on, his confidence increasing along with his ministrations. Daryl's blue eyes slid from where his hand disappeared and back up to Katty's face. He normally wasn't one for eye contact, and Katty felt herself clench at the intensity of it. Daryl's expression was verging on stern, his jaw clenched and eyes focussed, spearing into her. Katty would have given anything to know what was going through his mind.

His index and middle finger brushed over her swollen clit and she whimpered, her knees knocking together as they threatened to give out. She felt somewhat self conscious with his eyes bouncing around; from her eyes, to her lips, down her body to his hand and back up again. Katty murmured something unintelligible, and leant in with the intent to press her lips against Daryl's, if only to save herself from the heat of his gaze.

Daryl turned his head, avoiding Katty but keeping his eyes on hers. "Nu uh," he reprimanded her thickly, swallowing as he pressed again on the spot that had made her knees tremble.

Katty huffed a frustrated noise to cover her moan, sufficing to narrow her eyes as best she could in mock annoyance as his fingers worked her through her panties.

"Gotta be patient," he reminded her, though Katty could hear an obvious strain in Daryl's voice. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when he removed his hand from her, devastatingly slow. Leaning away from her a few inches, Daryl gripped her bitingly hard by the hips, his nails digging into her skin where they caught above the hem of her jean shorts. Her inhale shuddered as his hands travelled upwards, pulling her shirt along with them. Katty's stomach tensed as his hands explored her waist line, her eyes now glued to his face. Daryl was watching with a curiosity that she couldn't describe; like he was trying to memorize her, with parted lips and a brow furrowed in concentration. He pushed her shirt so it was crumpled and sitting above her bra, not making any move to fully undress her. Daryl's hands ghosted lightly over her covered breasts, before ducking his head and lavishly licking along the top line of her bra cup.

"Oh, fuck," she gasped at the unexpected action, her hips jerking forward and moving against Daryl's, desperate for contact. She felt him laugh against her skin, his breath hot and sharp. Daryl's mouth ghosted along her skin a few more moments before his hands grabbed her bra from the underwire and shoved it upwards, her breasts spilling out. She almost recoiled at the sudden vulnerability that she felt, but forgot about it the instant that his calloused hands started to massage her. Her eyes fluttered shut, moans on the edge of each breath as he alternated between kneading each breast and plucking at her nipples.

She let out a girlish yelp when Daryl flicked one and she tried to frown at him convincingly. Daryl let out a short laugh and leaned in, kissing her hard and quickly before pulling away.

"What d'ya want?"

She blinked, her eyes feeling hazy, and tried to focus on him. Katty wasn't sure what the right answer was. His question almost sounded like a challenge, and her lips twisted upwards as she met his eyes once more. Katty licked her lips.

"I want everything," she answered honestly, holding his blues with her own mismatched ones.

Something in his stern expression changed, and Katty wasn't sure what, but the next thing she knew, his lips were attached to her neck and his hands were deftly undoing the button on her shorts. Shoving them down her legs with a new urgency, Daryl stepped away from her like he had been burnt. He looked over her, something similar to proprietary, and everything about Daryl was dark and heavy and intense and sexier than she had ever seen him.

Correction.

Daryl Dixon dropping to his knees in front of her was the sexiest she had ever seen him. She was shaking without him to hold her against the tree, and could only watch and pray to God that he didn't notice how unflattering this angle was for her. Daryl's beard scratched along her skin as he hooked his fingers around the band of her panties and started the tug them down. His mouth trailed along her thighs, and he glanced up at Katty to prompt her to step out of the fabric. Katty noticed, but couldn't bring herself to ask, when Daryl immediately pocketed her underwear.

Sliding his hand underneath her left leg, Katty almost fell over when he quickly lifted her leg and pushed it onto his shoulder.

"Daryl!" she laughed out, steadying herself on his unoccupied shoulder and leaning further back against the scratchy bark. Her laughter quickly dissolved into a loud moan when Daryl licked the entirety of her slit. Weaving his hand around, Daryl placed it above her pubic bone and pulled upwards slightly, exposing her clit to his mouth and beginning his assault.

"God," she sobbed as a combination of lips, tongue and scruff sent more sensations than she could handle through her. "Oh, God." She was a mewling, trembling mess as his other hand snaked up to tweak one of her nipples roughly, before raking back down.

Daryl alternated between licks with the blunt of his tongue and concentrated circles around her clit. Katty's hand strung themselves through his hair, her own nails biting into his scalp. He pulled away momentarily, moving his fingers of his free hand down her slit, coating them in her wetness before sliding them inside of her. Katty let her head drop back as Daryl curled his two fingers inside her in a come-hither motion, and she let out a long string of expletives as she felt the tight ball of her climax winding up.

"Ya like that?" he coaxed, sending shivers up Katty's spine from the dark tone of Daryl's voice. She could feel him watching her, but she was too consumed by the rapid movement of his fingers to be embarrassed.

"Please, Daryl," was all she could manage to cry out, trying to tug his mouth back towards her. Daryl's lips and tongue attached themselves back to her clit, matching the now frantic pace of his fingers inside her. The thrusting and curling motion repeatedly hit against her g-spot, and Katty couldn't help but grind herself on Daryl's face, chasing her peak.

Like a cord that had abruptly snapped under tension, suddenly her world was white and unbearably hot as her climax ripped through her. Katty could hear her own moans and whimpers spike in volume and pitch, incomprehensible cries tumbling from her mouth. Daryl shoved her against the tree firmly when her one leg started to buckle, his fingers and tongue unrelenting as he forced her to ride out her orgasm.

When Katty came down from her high, Daryl was watching her, a satisfied smirk on his face. He kissed the inside of her thigh, the one that was still over his shoulder, before slowly letting her down. Her legs felt like rubber.

Daryl didn't say anything right away, and Katty could see him chewing on the inside of his cheek as he waited for her to right her clothing. As she finished buttoning up her jean shorts and pulling her bra and shirt back down so that she was covered, Katty looked up at Daryl and waited for him to meet her eyes again.

"You're amazing," she said firmly to the now self-conscious man in front of her. She didn't understand how, but Daryl's confidence always evaporated as fast as it appeared. Katty didn't mind reminding him, though. His eyes met hers briefly before he snorted and looked away. Katty grinned at the pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Should get back," he said instead of acknowledging her compliment, grabbing his crossbow and the string of dead rabbits and squirrels that had been forgotten on the ground.

"So soon?" Katty asked airily, disappointment laced throughout her voice.

Daryl glanced back at her almost shyly, biting back a smile. "They'll be waitin' fer dinner," he muttered as they started to walk back. She watched him from her position slightly behind Daryl, eyes raking over his form, thinking about nothing other than the man in front of her.

He surprised her when he peered back at her, jerking her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked at his curious look.

"Ya smell like pot," his eyes squinted as Daryl scrutinized her.

She let out a string of laughter, "Uh – yeah," she admitted, wondering briefly if he was going to get annoyed with her. "Calum's late birthday present to me."

Daryl's brows rose, "'Nd ya two morons thought it was a good idea ta smoke up while we're out here?" he sounded a combination of irritated and amused, which Katty thought was better than the pure annoyance that she had expected.

Katty let out another laugh, this one more embarrassed sounding than the last. She didn't have a good excuse or reason, so Katty just shrugged and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Orgasms are better when you're high."

Daryl let out a short laugh, shaking his head, "So it was tha pot then, huh?"

Katty shot a grin his way, "Sorry, darling."

She saw Daryl stiffen at the term of endearment and frown to himself. Katty rolled her eyes; she could almost physically see Daryl retracting back into his shell. As if she was going to let him try to close up on her after what they had just done, though, and thought of a distraction. Reaching over quickly, Katty pinched Daryl's butt, laughing when he jumped and then swatted at her with an angry scowl.

"Knock it off," he grouched at her, taking a few large steps away from Katty as they reached the clearing that their group was set up in.

"Can't help it," she drawled at him from behind, unconcerned if anyone from the group overheard. "Spent the last few hours staring at your arse, you have no idea how hard it's been on me."

Daryl's neck up to his jaw was noticeably red and he huffed away from Katty and she stared adoringly after him. He dumped the string of dead wildlife in Glenn's lap before he ducked inside his tent without a word of greeting to the group, presumably to grab whatever he needed to gut them. She grinned; he definitely didn't want anyone seeing his flushed face.

Katty chortled at the disgusted look on Glenn's face, plopping down in the fabric camping chair next to him. Everyone, save Michonne, was seated around a makeshift fire pit that hadn't been lit yet, chatting to each other in various groups and subsets. Michonne was sitting in the back of the pickup truck that the other three had driven in, perched on the roof of the cab, keeping lookout.

Glenn eyed her happy, tranquil expression. "How are you so relaxed looking after watching him kill stuff for hours?"

Katty lifted her eyes back to Glenn, her lips twisting into a lopsided smile as she tried to think of something to reply that didn't involve Katty explaining what had transpired in the woods.

Before she could respond, Glenn's eyes narrowed. "On second thought, I don't want to know."

Abraham guffawed loudly from his place beside Rosita, and Katty knew whatever he was about to say wouldn't be good.

"Only one thing causes that glow," he commented, arching a suspicious brow at Katty and then bouncing his gaze suggestively between her and Daryl's tent. Katty sent him a pointed look, and Rosita swatted Abraham on the thigh.

"Shut up," voicing what Katty was thinking, Rosita rolled her eyes at Abraham, who grinned at her in turn and slung an arm around the back of her chair.

"Seems like you two were productive," Rick commented as Daryl appeared again, referring to the string of animals, but Katty could hear the teasing note in his voice and bit back a smile. He had one leg crossed over the other and regarded both of them with a grin from his position on Abraham's other side. Daryl grunted in response, perching himself closest to the unlit fire pit so he could toss the finished meat into the pot that was strung over the logs.

"Daryl did all the work," Katty clarified, watching as the hunter shrugged dismissively without looking up. She watched as Calum scooted his chair over to where Daryl was, Daryl giving Calum a nod when he reached down and grabbed a squirrel from the pile and pulled out his knife. Katty cringed, knowing she should offer to help gut them. She knew how to do it, she just _really_ hated it. She hadn't seen the two of them interact much, and watched their silent collaboration interestedly.

"'Least ya don't scare away everthin'," Daryl pointed out, glancing up at her briefly before jerking his head in Rick's direction. "Walks 'round like he's fuckin' stompin' grapes."

Katty heard Michonne laughing to herself from her position on the truck. Rick grin turned sheepish, "Hey, I think I've gotten better."

"Subtlety has never been your strong suit," Glenn added. Rick opened his mouth to argue, but Glenn cut him off, "Katty, have I ever told you about how I met Rick?" His eyes danced with laughter.

Her eyebrows raised, and she grinned at the cringe Rick sent before turning her attention back to Glenn. "No, I don't believe you have."

"He rode a horse into the middle of Atlanta –"

Katty's jaw dropped. "Atlanta was completely overrun."

"Okay, okay," Rick laughed, embarrassed, raising his hands in defense, "before Glenn starts, Katty," he addressed her, "just know that he exaggerates _a lot_. It wasn't as bad as it sounds."

"Not as bad as attracting a herd's attention, turning the horse into a Walker buffet and getting yourself trapped in an old military tank?"

Katty let out a disbelieving laugh, flicking her attention between Rick and Glenn. "You're fucking joking."

Glenn launched into an animated retelling of the story of their beginning, and Katty mostly listened as she glanced around at the different faces. They had all surely heard this story, but there were various smiles and laughs and amused expressions at what had been so long ago from now. Rosita got up to light the fire and Katty helped her put together and cook their meal for the evening as she listened to Glenn talk.

She was almost able to forget that they were in the middle of the apocalypse with the dead walking around. It felt like friends on a camping trip. Katty smiled to herself and it was a bit sad between the other emotions in that moment.

"How did you and Calum meet again, Katty?" Rosita asked once Glenn had finished.

Katty paused, and she could see in her peripheral both Calum and Daryl pause in cleaning up to look over at her. She was quiet for a moment, trying to think of a way to spin it in a humorous way. She wasn't sure how dead boyfriends and Walker bites and attempted suicide could be that.

"I found her," Calum supplied with a wide grin. "Lucky thing, too," he tossed a wink her way, a message that only Katty – and Daryl, she supposed, would understand. Katty smiled warmly at him in turn, grateful for many things but especially that he had directed the conversation.

"Wasn't the ball buster she is today?"

Calum snorted at Abraham's question, rolling his eyes. "She was wearin' a damn swim suit under her clothes."

Katty popped her hip out, resting a hand on it. "And how does that mean anything?"

"It's not fuckin' Baywatch, Katty" Calum cried, seemingly disgruntled at the memory of her high-cut red one piece swimsuit. "Slow motion running won't save you from Biters."

Abraham and Glenn found that rather funny, snorting and snickering in response. Laughter danced in Calum's light eyes, and he mussed up his hair. Katty rolled her eyes. Calum was always like that whenever the attention was on him. He was approachable and charming; good looking and lanky while not being intimidating. People were easily drawn to him and it usually worked in their favour.

"I had just come from the airport," Katty tried to justify it. "I was living out of a suitcase that I had packed for Florida, not the end of the world," she grumbled, hearing Calum bark out a laugh in response.

Dinner was ready, and Katty, without realizing it, found herself fixing Daryl a plate. She had been distracted by Calum teasing her and the resounding laughter that followed, and didn't put much thought into it before turning to hand him his food. Daryl's brows rose slightly in surprise, and Katty was thankful that no one seemed to notice or care enough to comment on it. He muttered a low 'thanks' under his breath and nodded at her. Katty could see Calum watching her, his lips upturned in a smirk, and she threw him an unamused look.

"And for your _information_ ," she started, placing emphasis on the word, "there was a quarry with water nearby and I had considered seeing if the people there would let me wash my hair."

"We were in a quarry outside of Atlanta at the beginning, too," Glenn stated offhandedly through a forkful of meat.

Katty frowned at Glenn, squinting as she tried to remember the people when she and Tyler had approached them. "I don't remember any of your faces being there."

Glenn shrugged, "Maybe not, then. Weren't there for long, so might have even been another group after us."

Katty sat down with her plate, chewing thoughtfully as she recounted the people she had seen. She remembered a few details. Specifically, the man that had been condescending towards her.

"There was some cop, brown hair, walked like he owned the place. Bit of a prick," she recollected aloud. "Couple blondes and an older guy, too." That day seemed unbelievably far away, thinking about it now.

Glenn's head shot up, startled, and he looked between both Daryl and Rick. Rick's eyes flicked between the two men as well, but Daryl was frozen, staring at Katty. "What were their names?" Glenn asked her quickly.

Katty frowned, trying to remember what the willowy brunette had called the cop. "Didn't really get names. Some other woman called him – uh – something with an 'S' or a 'C', maybe –"

"Shane? Was it Shane?"

There was an urgency in Glenn's tone that Katty didn't quite understand right away. "I'm not sure," she couldn't place the name, but it may have been Shane. Or Sean, who knows. "One of the blonde girls was nice."

"Sounds like our old group," Rick murmured, now staring into the fire. Katty wondered what he was remembering. Who he was remembering.

The smallest notions can trigger memories and make you feel like you were drowning again and again.

None of them said anything further; Katty was glad for that fact. Her mind was already buzzing at the idea that she had been so close to them. Glancing across the fire at Daryl, she saw him staring right back at her, his eyes burning. _Close to him_ , her mind echoed. She wasn't sure if any definite confirmation of the fact would make her happy or make her want to cry. Shane – or whoever it was, had said that maybe if it was just herself and Tyler, they may have been able to take them in. What if she had taken him up on that offer, what if they had left their group. It had been Katty's fault for being so self absorbed, but those people hadn't really meant much to her. How different would her life be if she had gone and stayed at the Quarry. Would she have met Daryl? Maybe she wouldn't even still be alive.

Looking back at Daryl, she knew that he was, to some extent, thinking the same thing.

"I'll go switch with Michonne so she can eat," she piped up, wanting to get away from the group for a bit.

"Wait, Katty," Rick stopped her as she started to rise out of her seat. "Let's all talk briefly about what's happenin' tomorrow before everyone goes to sleep."

She hesitated before sitting back down, wondering where this was going.

"Might be best to split into two groups tomorrow, cover more area and get done faster," Rick started, looking over everyone for their individual reactions.

"Split up?" Katty questioned. "Aren't we all going to the city centre?" she frowned. There had been a Home Depot that a few residents had known of, along with a few other supply stores, organic health stores and garden centres.

"Mostly," Rick offered vaguely. "Don't wanna go too far into the city, and we're going to be on the lookout for other equipment and weapons."

Katty narrowed her eyes and thought over her options. She saw this in two ways; either be compliant and go along with whatever the group thought, or question Rick bluntly.

"What's really going on?" Her mouth made up her mind for her, and she tried to keep the accusation out of her tone. "I don't think so many of us have to be out here, just looking for farming shit."

Rick regarded her evenly for a moment, and seemed to be deliberating something internally. He sighed, roughly shoving a hand over his face and through his hair.

"There's a reason why Alexandria has been so," he paused, thinking over his choice of words. "Safe. Quiet."

His words stuck to the roof of her mouth. Katty could feel a pit in her stomach forming, knowing that the conclusion would not be good.

She nodded, urging Rick to continue.

"There's a pit – a quarry. Me and Morgan found it when we went to bury Pete. There's a herd, a _big_ one, would take down the walls if it gets out."

"Why aren't they getting out?" she immediately questioned. Whatever was holding they had to stay, be reinforced.

"A few trucks that were left there," he stated simply, and the pit in her stomach got bigger. "They've been squeezin' out every now and then, but as soon as any of the trucks give way, they're headin' straight for Alexandria."

Katty wanted to look around at the rest of the group, but found herself glued to Rick. There was no trace of exaggeration or joking in his eyes. This herd was _big_ , and he was worried.

"What do we need?" Seeds and wheel barrows could wait.

He blinked hard before Rick took a deep breath, and Katty prayed that Rick had a plan already in the works.

"Supplies. Need to build a wall, need to reinforce the roads so we can lead them another way, need Walkie Talkies or somethin' so we can communicate in groups, need weapons," he listed. "We have to prepare them all, show them how to fight them. We'll need all the bodies we can get." He was referring to the residents of Alexandria, and Katty couldn't agree more. It was long overdue, and the town was infinitely lucky that nothing had come along to squander the peace that shrouded Alexandria. Until now.

"Anything else?"

Rick sighed.

"Time. We need time."

Katty felt like she was drowning all over again.

* * *

The sky was an inky star laced darkness.

The quiet was just what she had needed that night, after everything that day, and she took a deep breath. Katty had known that something had been amiss; she had just hoped that it would have been more benign than an enormous pit full of Walkers.

She had dug further. Prodded Rick and the rest of the group with more questions, tried to bounce ideas between them on what to do. In the end, Rick had shaken his head, stating that they would figure it out as they went tomorrow. No use planning when they weren't sure of what they'd find.

They had attempted to lighten the heavy air afterwards, telling more warmhearted stories and echoes of their pasts. They were few and far between, and Katty noticed that none of them were recent. How much longer until they wouldn't remember anything funny or sweet?

Katty had lucked out and had gotten first watch. First watch was the easiest and meant you got the most uninterrupted sleep. No one had objected and she figured that they could tell that she had an urge to be alone. She had trouble describing, even to herself, how she was feeling and wanted some time to sort through her thoughts.

She had once thought the Walkers weren't the scariest thing out there anymore; not compared to humans, at least. But she supposed that anything in large enough numbers was an army of sorts. Katty frowned to herself, wondering why she didn't start offering defense lessons to the residents of Alexandria sooner. Rick was right, what they needed was time; unfortunate that that was the resource that no one had enough of these days. Difficult to find, near impossible to get back once it was gone.

The quiet and still and calm of the night was a double-edged sword. It served as a reminder of the quarry full of Biters, the only barrier between them and a herd stealing lives and sanctuary. Everyone had retired to their tents for the night, and Katty looked around, wondering if anyone ever slept soundly anymore.

Her ears perked and Katty turned her head in the direction of a zipper sliding up the front of a tent. It came from her tent, and she watched as Calum ducked out, covered in a large sweater and carrying a flashlight and water. He quickly turned and shut the nylon tent before any insects found their way in, and walked quietly and quickly over to Katty, on the truck.

"Been quiet?" he asked, stretching and looking around the grassy area they were in.

"Yeah. I have at least another hour or two, Cal," she whispered to him, aware that it wasn't his turn yet.

He shrugged, shuffling in the grass. "Can't sleep anyways. You can stay if you want, but I'm starting early." Calum never could sleep first. Katty remembered when it was just the two of them, he would always take the first half of the night.

Calum hopped up onto the back of the truck, attempting to be quiet, and then perched himself next to her. She hesitated and considered leaving. They couldn't really talk; it'd be inconsiderate of them to keep the rest of the group awake.

"Get," Calum chided, nudging her with his elbow gently. His eyes danced over her shoulder for a brief moment, and a grin slid onto his face once more. Tipping his chin in the direction he had been looking, Katty arched an eyebrow before turning to see what he'd been motioning towards.

Daryl's tent.

"I won't tell," Calum muttered teasingly, a laugh at the edge of his voice. Katty rolled her eyes, slightly embarrassed, before sucking up her qualms and standing to leave. She almost yelped when Calum swatted her butt. "Go get 'im, tiger."

She sent him a withering look before jumping off. Katty skipped going to her tent first to stall, knowing that if she did she'd likely chicken out. Daryl hadn't explicitly invited her or even remotely suggested it. They didn't really have much contact after hunting, aside from her bringing Daryl a plate of food and then him nodding at her in the form of a goodnight gesture before he disappeared inside his tent.

Katty tried to be as light-footed as possible as she approached his tent, not wanting anyone else to hear her but also hoping that Daryl wouldn't be able to tell if she lost her nerve halfway and turned around.

She quirked her head as she reached the door. It wasn't like she could knock or announce herself. Shrugging, Katty just bent down and slowly unzipped the flap, cringing at what she felt was a loud noise. Ducking inside, Katty zipped it back up before looking over at Daryl.

She could already feel that he was awake.

Katty wasn't sure if Daryl actually slept. He was always up before she was, Katty never had to wake him up. It was likely part of his life, even from before the end of the world. Hunting especially, nevermind whatever thoughts she had about what Daryl's home life would have been like before. They hadn't talked about it.

Turning to face him, she wasn't surprised to see him laying in his open sleeping bag, arms crossed behind his head. What surprised her was that Daryl didn't look shocked to see her. He regarded her cooly, with slightly raised brows. No words were spoken, Daryl didn't greet her, resorting to just eying Katty up and down briefly. It felt like a challenge.

He was still dressed, just had removed his vest and knife, laying it on the floor just underneath the cot where Daryl could reach it quickly. Katty's lips almost quirked at the fact Daryl wasn't wearing shoes, his bare feet perched at the end of the cot.

Katty maintained eye contact as she kicked off her shoes in what she hoped was a graceful manner, and then took the two short steps towards Daryl. He didn't make any motion to move, just stared at her, so she grit her teeth.

"Scoot," she commanded in a whisper, using the most confident voice that she could muster in that moment. Katty flicked her wrist, emphasizing the word.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her, obviously not liking being told what to do. He hesitated, and Katty half expected him to shake his head at her. Maybe laying next to him in bed, even if it was a cot, was too intimate for the man, and she was pushing him. Katty tried to soften her features and relax, trying to convey something that was comforting and not the nervous energy that she felt.

Daryl flicked his eyes up and down her once more contemplatively before moving. He shifted away to make room for her, and then twisted so that he was almost propped up on his side. Before she could overthink it, Katty shrugged off her jacket quickly and climbed in beside Daryl, laying on her side and facing him.

"Hi," she breathed, trying not to feel overwhelmed with how close he was. Katty could feel his hot breath ghosting across her face and feel his eyes flitting over her. She braved a shy glance up to his face.

Daryl hummed something short in return that resembled a greeting, and Katty could practically feel his chest vibrate. She pondered briefly if he could then tell just how fast her heart was beating. It scared her, in a way, just how much more intimate it felt, laying next to him.

They laid there, just looking at each other, Daryl's gaze somewhat calculating, waiting to see what she'd do. Katty gulped before moving closer and tilting her face up an inch, locking her lips to Daryl's. She reached down and grabbed his hand, placing in on the dip in her waist. It almost felt as though she were coaxing him, alternating and giving him short, playful kisses to make the moment less, less whatever it was, Katty wasn't sure that she wanted to name it.

She let out a little squeak when he suddenly squeezed her side, and Daryl shushed her against her lips as she felt him smirk, running his hand up and down her side. Her stomach clenched when it travelled down and then back up as he reached the hem of her shirt, sliding his palm against her flesh. Katty could feel goosebumps raising on her skin everywhere that he touched her, and Daryl's mouth and tongue against hers became more insistent. More heated.

Katty bit his lip playfully, eliciting some noise from him in the back of Daryl's throat, before she swung a leg over him on the cot and pushed herself up, straddling him. Now he looked a bit surprised, staring up at her, eyes burning.

Katty liked the change in position, liked feeling like she had the control for a change, and relished in the primal look on Daryl's face as he watched her. She stopped him when he reached forward with the intent on pulling off her shirt.

"Hands down," she murmured at him, shoving his arms back down beside himself with a grin.

For whatever reason, he decided to listen to her, frowning at her in turn. Katty ignored the look, and settled herself more firmly on his lap, biting her lip when she felt Daryl's hardening cock pressing into her. Crossing her arms at the base of her shirt, Katty slowly started to pull it up and over her head, grinding herself against Daryl just as slow. She heard him let out a puff of air as her hips made slow circles on top of him, and Katty chucked her now inside-out shirt to the side. Reaching behind her, Katty unhooked her bra, holding the cups to her chest as she slid the straps down her arms on either side. Daryl eyed her hungrily, which only spurred her on.

His hands came up again and reached for her the moment that she had dropped the bra to follow the shirt on the ground of the tent. Again, Katty pushed his arms down.

"I said, hands down," she purred into his ear as she leant forward. Daryl fidgeted under her and Katty moved back, firmly pressing her centre on him. Katty smiled when she heard him swear under his breath.

Sitting on him topless, her nipples hardening from the chilly night air, Katty reached forward and started to undo the buttons on his dark grey, sleeveless shirt. She could feel his heart pounding as her hands ghosted over his chest, heaving with every ragged breath. Katty looked over him admiringly after she had finished with the last button.

"You're sexy," she commented honestly and deeply, eyes raking over his exposed upper half. Katty tried not to let her eyes linger on the scarring spattered across his chest, knowing that Daryl would be conscious of it.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes, disbelief written across his face. Katty leaned forward and planted her mouth on his again, moaning into his mouth when his rough hands found her breasts and, rolling his thumbs over her nipples. Daryl was suddenly pushing himself up to seated, Katty coming with him, and he half-shoved her off of him and to the side, flipping them over.

It was teeth and tongue and fire as Daryl's mouth descended onto hers once more, pressing himself to her firmly. Katty paused, contemplating for a moment before bringing her hand up to Daryl's jawline lightly, pulling back slightly and kissing him sweeter than the heat that had been starting to boil. Unused to the slower rhythm, they fumbled a bit before they matched each other, Katty somewhat surprised that Daryl was alright with the change in tempo.

His tongue caressed Katty's, her body the same fluid motion against Daryl. Lips locked, Katty reached down and undid her shorts, sliding them down her legs best she could and then kicking them the rest of the way off. Daryl was supporting himself with his elbows on either side of Katty's face, so she pulled off Daryl's belt and undid the button and zipper on his pants. She tried to use her feet to shove his pants down some, and then snorted loudly when he fumbled and slipped while trying to kick them the rest of the way off, ending up half-falling on top of her.

Daryl scowled at her, though his embarrassment shone through, shushing her louder this time.

"You shush! That was loud," she scolded quietly, trying not to laugh. Daryl shoved a hand over her mouth as he reached behind him to cover them with the sleeping bag. She resisted licking his palm, knowing it would ruin the moment more than she had already.

Daryl returned to kissing her, sliding a hand down her body to between her legs, humming in approval when he found how wet she was already for him. Katty moved her hips, grinding herself against his fingers that were slipping between her folds, trying to resist whimpering and writhing.

He pulled away from her lips and leaned to the side to grab something, so Katty moved her mouth down his jaw and neck, alternating between biting, licking and kissing. He hissed when her hand closed around his cock, pumping him slowly, smearing his precum around the head.

"Wait," he rasped at her when she started moving him up and down her folds, becoming slick from her wetness. Daryl pulled a foil packet out, and Katty blinked at it, almost asking where the hell he got that from.

Fuck it, who cares.

She took it from him, quickly ripping it open and pulling the latex condom out. Katty kissed him quickly on the jaw, reaching down and rolling it over his cock. Wrapping her hand around him once more, Katty teased him along herself first, rubbing his head against her clit briefly before positioning him at her entrance. She almost cried out at the feeling of Daryl filling her painfully slow, and he kissed her again to silence her. He started to move inside of her and Katty writhed against him, trying to buck against Daryl to get more. Her hands curved around his lower back, nails digging into his skin, before she moved them lower and grabbed his firm backside, whimpering as he gradually picked up speed. Daryl pulled his mouth from hers, pressing his face into the crook of her shoulder; Katty could hear him biting back his own moans as he thrust into her.

Katty didn't think she'd be able to cum again today after what happened in the forest, but could feel her climax quickly approaching, the familiar feeling appearing in her lower abdomen. Daryl's thrusts were quick, rushed, and bordering on erratic as he neared his own end. Raising his head from her shoulder, Daryl reached a hand up to push her hair back from her face.

"Look at me," he growled lowly at her, making Katty's eyes snap to meet his, surprised at his request. Daryl thrusted harder and deeper, and she was able to maintain eye contact until her climax hit, and her eyes fluttered shut, mouth opening in a silent cry as her walls contracted erratically around him. He shoved his face back into the side of her neck, hot breath caressing her ear with barely contained groans as he finished. They lay there, unmoving for a minute, each coming down from their highs, catching their breath. She whimpered when Daryl pulled out of her, and he kissed her sweaty forehead quickly before removing the condom, tying a knot in it, and dropping it on the ground.

Katty couldn't resist reaching out and lightly laying her palm on his heavily scarred back as he was turned away from her, pausing when he flinched hard at the contact. When he settled back down, facing Katty, she moved so that her head was on his outstretched arm, scooting closer to his chest. Daryl didn't seem to care, not voicing any complaints as she curled into him. Katty listened to his breathing slow for a few minutes, not saying anything.

"Are they from before?" she asked quietly, unable to resist.

Daryl was silent for a while, and she assumed he wasn't going to answer.

He made a noise in his throat. "Yeah," Daryl clarified.

"Merle?" Katty probed further, curious.

"Some," he acknowledged, his voice uncaring. "Mostly the ol' man."

Katty couldn't help but notice his other hand trailing on her left leg, brushing over some of her scars.

"Before?" he murmured lightly.

"After," she answered, her throat feeling dry, hoping Daryl wouldn't ask anymore.

He didn't. Katty's eyelids felt heavy, and she relaxed against Daryl, letting them shut.

Consumed by his smell, his body, his everything in that moment, Katty thought that drowning might not be so bad after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, you! Thanks for reading. :) It means a lot to me. Sorry this took so long, but at least it's relatively long.**

 **I will properly thank everyone for reviewing and all that in the next chapter, I promise!**

 **Please feed an author and leave a review,**

 **-Submechanophobia.**


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